


The Story of Supernatural [Vol.1]

by Afirelove98



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst, Bwwm, Canon Universe, Canon-Typical Violence, Complicated love story, Demigods, Dysfunctional Relationships, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Fluff, Interracial relationships, Long-Term Relationship(s), Love, Love Story, Marriage, Miscellaneous characters from the show - Freeform, Original Character-centric, Platonic Relationships, Season 1-3 of Supernatural, Sexual Content, Spoilers, on and off relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-14
Updated: 2017-09-24
Packaged: 2018-10-05 02:48:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 89,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10295786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Afirelove98/pseuds/Afirelove98
Summary: Growing up with a normal life, a normal family, and the oblivion to all things supernatural...Shia did not expect a visit from Athena "goddess of wisdom and war," claiming to be her mother.Athena knew what was coming for her daughter, so she shipped her off to live with the legendary hunter, Bobby Singer, so he could teach her how to protect herself. Along the way she meets two special boys. Ten years later and she's helping them find their dad. How can Shia juggle powers, love, and family life?  [Season 1-3, Dean x OFC].





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Howdy, reader! Just a friendly reminder that this story will contain sexual content. If you're not comfortable with it, just skip over it. 
> 
> Also, I love you guys! Even though we don't know each other, I care. I hope this story brings us closer together. 
> 
> This story is posted on other sites. So, don't worry, I post this story almost everywhere. But you guys are getting the recently edited version. :)

PROLOGUE 

~September 23, 1995 (approx. 7:32 p.m.) — the home of Diane and Frank Robinson~

TEN YEARS AGO 

~•~

The young girl with long black hair, known as Shia, was at home sitting at the kitchen table; enjoying the company of her mother and father. The family hummed to the tunes of the radio as they prepared for dinner. 

"Just a small town girl  
Livin' in a lonely world  
She took the midnight train goin' anywhere  
Just a city boy  
Born and raised in south Detroit  
He took the midnight train goin' anywhere..."

Shia felt the breeze of a the fall day hit her cheek as placed the plates of the table. She sucked in her breath, not liking the cold. She quickly walked over to the cracked window, closing it swiftly. 

"Why aren't you singing anymore, love?" Diane asked her daughter, noticing her harmonies were no longer clashing with hers. 

"Did either of you open this window?" Shia asked, mostly out of curiosity. She knew that someone had to have opened it. 

"I didn't," Frank said as he looked up from his newspaper. 

"I didn't as well," Diane added. "Maybe Gina, the maid, left it open. She tends to do that at times." 

"Oh, makes sense." Shia mumbled. "Tell her to close it next time once she leaves. Burglary happens a lot more now..."

"Shia's right. Be sure Gina knows that, Diane." 

"Alright. I'll mention it to her in the morning." Diane said with a sweet smile. "Dinner is ready." 

~•~

"And I told coach Diaz that I would be much better as a goalie this season...she told me she'll think about it. Can you believe that?" Shia said as she ranted to her parents about the events she goes through at school daily. 

"I'm sure she'll make the best decision for you and the team. Honestly, I think you'll do fantastic in the field. You were great last season." Diane told her daughter before stuffing salad in her mouth. 

"She's great at the sport in general. Whatever Diaz decides should be fine." 

Shia nodded at her parents. "So, dad, how's the business going?" 

"Well, we took a hit in stocks but as of right now...one of the stocks we invested in are hitting the sky limits. If we sale it early tomorrow morning, I'll be able to pay for your college." Frank said as he playfully winked at his daughter. 

"That's a relief." Diane should with a chuckle. 

The family continued to share their thoughts on work and their day for thirty more minutes. Shia laughed and talked for most of time, but then her stomach started to churn. 

"Darling, are you okay? Your face is going green." Diane asked. 

"I don't think so, mom." 

"You might have out done yourself with the food. Head on to bed, I'll bring you some medicine in a few minutes." 

"Feel better, sweet pea." Frank told his daughter as she left the kitchen. 

~•~

Shia closed the door to her room, sighing as she took her jersey off and her blue tank top on. 

"Hopefully I'll feel better just in time for tomorrow's game." She mumbled to herself right before turning off her lights. She got into her bed and snuggled into her pillow. 

Suddenly, her door slammed. 

Alarmed, she quickly lifted her head from her pillow. 

"Mom?" She called into the dark room. "Mom, turn on the lights." 

"Are you sure you want me to do that?" An unfamiliar voice responded. The young girl gasped softly as she backed up to the wall. 

"Who's there?" 

"You're in danger. You must come with me." 

"What the hell? I'm going insane. This must be some weird, vivid dream." Shia mumbled to herself. 

"I'm afraid not." The voice said as the lights in the room came on. Shia could now put a face to that voice. It was a woman with dark hair and dark skin. Her face was in a shape of a diamond, her brown eyes sparkled in a god like way. Her beauty was undeniable. 

"Who are you?" 

"My name is Athena, goddess of wisdom and war." 

Shia sat there with mouth opened wide. "You've got to be shitting me." 

"No...I'm not...shitting you." 

"Okay, well, if this is not a dream. Hopefully, it is. What do you want?" Shia asked. "I have to be honest. I'm seconds away from screaming." 

"Please don't," Athena asked softly, "you're in danger." 

"Why does my safety concern you? How am I in danger?" 

"They never told you..." 

"What are you on about, lady?" 

Athena looked up at the child and took a breath before uttering the words, "You're adopted." 

Shia's face showed she was shocked but she couldn't grasped the news. "I'm what?"

"Adopted. You see, I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl fifteen years ago..." 

"That doesn't mean I'm the little girl you gave birth to." Shia said as she shook her head. 

"I named you Shia. Shia Sharaye Colten." Athena informed the girl. "You took their last name once they adopted you." 

Shia stayed silent. She thought her being adopted explained a lot of things. Like how she didn't look like either of her parents or how none of them could give her blood when she needed emergency surgery one year. Shit, it was true. 

She was adopted.

"So, you're saying–"

"That you're a demi god? Yes. You must come with me. You're in danger." 

"Who's trying to hurt me?" Shia asked as she slowly climbed out of bed. 

"This being, it calls itself Azazel. Filthy little bugger." 

"What does it want with me?" 

"To change destiny. And I cannot allow that. Grab your things, darling." 

"Just wait a minute, will you?" Shia said as she sat on her bed.

"We don't have a minute, he'll be here soon." 

"Will I ever see them again?" Shia asked, referring to her par– adoptive parents. 

"No. After tonight, they'll have no memories of you." Athena told her daughter. The goddess slowly walked over to the teenage girl. "This is odd news, I know. And you take it so well but I will not allow your death to happen so soon. You're my child and I love you. You must understand that I have to look out for you. It's my duty as a parent." 

"Isn't there some law forbidding you to help me?" 

"I'm sure there is but I've always been a rebel. There's a reason why I love war." Athena said with a smug smile. The same smile Shia had, that's where she gets it from. "Come now, you must meet with an old friend of mine...Bobby Singer. He shall teach you the light of things. You will be safe." 

"Okay. Let me grab a few things." 

~•~ 

"So, how am I supposed to get to South Dakota?" Shia asked the goddess, Athena. 

"I will take you there." 

"With what car?" Shia asked looking around to see no car in front of her house. 

"Close your eyes." Athena said as she placed a hand on Shia's cheek. Doing what she was told, she closes her eyes. 

"Now, open." Shia heard Athena whisper. She opened her eyes to see a house in front of her, a house that she has not seen before. 

"How in the–" Shia started. "This is all crazy. I'll play along though." 

Shia cautiously walked towards the front door. She noticed a car, it was a '67 chevy impala. It was in beautiful condition and it was all black. 

Shia whistled, "Damn. Nice car." 

Seconds later, Shia found herself at the front door. Taking a deep breath, she knocked. There was no answer, so she knocked again but a little harder. "Come on, it's getting a little cold out here." 

The door opened quickly, the person who opened it was a boy; maybe a few years older than Shia. He had short blonde-brown hair and green eyes. His skin was tan and he was a few inches taller than the girl he stood in front of him. He stared blankly at Shia. He noticed the glasses on her face and that her hair was in a ponytail, she looked a lot younger than him. 

"Uh, kid, don't you think it's a little late for selling candy or whatever?" The boy asked Shia. Shia was a little lost for words, she was confused as to why she couldn't speak. 

"You mute or something?" 

"What?" Shia asked, finally gaining her speech. 

"What do you want, kid?" 

"You're only a few years older than me, don't call me a kid." Shia snapped at the young man. He gave her a shocked look, then he smirked. The girl had guts, he liked that. "I'm looking for Bobby Singer." 

He gave her a hard look, "What do you want with him?" 

"Don't you think it's rude to answer the door of someone else's home, you idjit?" An older man asked from behind the young man. "Dean, go on to the kitchen and eat." 

The young man, Dean, gave Shia once last look over before leaving. 

"Um, Bobby Singer?" Shia asked as she subconsciously played with her fingers. She was hoping that the man was a lot nicer than he looked. He had a resting hard face, coated by his beard. He looked dirty, as if he's been working all day. 

"Yup, that's me. What can I do for you?" Bobby asked. "Chocolate or mints?" 

"I'm not a Girl Scout." Shia quickly said. "My name is Shia–"

"Say no more. I know who you are." Bobby said with his gruff voice. "Athena told me everything. You're her daughter and she needs me to help you survive while taking on the role as your father." 

"Pretty much."

Bobby nodded, "Come on in, there's some food waiting in the kitchen. Let me get your bags." 

Shia gave him her two duffle bags before walking into the kitchen. She wasn't hungry but she could really use something to drink. 

She walked in on a conversation between Dean and two other people. As soon as the older man noticed her, he stopped talking. All eyes were in her. 

"Uh, hi." She greeted them awkwardly. Dean's eyes stayed on her. 

"Who are you?" The youngest boy in the room asked. "I'm Sam." 

"My name is Shia." She said avoiding the gazes coming her way. 

"John, Sam, and Dean...this Shia, I adopted her. She'll be here every time you come over. So, get use to her." Bobby said from behind Shia. He made things less awkward, Shia was grateful for that. 

"Why don't you come over here and eat something, Shia?" John told the girl. "I have to have a word with Bobby." 

Shia glanced up at Bobby, he nodded at her. She walked over and sat beside Dean, it was the only chair available at the moment. John and Bobby walked into other room to more than likely discuss the new person in the house. 

"They're probably talking about you." Sam told the girl in front of him. 

"Shut up, Sam." Dean said in a hush tone. 

"I agree with him. They're probably talking about me." 

"You don't know that. Dad's about to leave for a hunt. We're gonna be here for a few weeks." 

"Really?" Sam asked, his eyes sparkling. Although, he wouldn't be with his dad...Sam always felt somewhat normal when they would stay with Bobby rather than traveling all the time. 

"Why else would we be here?" Dean asked his brother rhetorically. He eyes then went to Shia who was stabbing at her steak. "You gonna eat that?" 

"You can have it." 

Dean smirked before grabbing her food, "thanks. I can get use to you." 

~•~

~April 19, 1996 (approx. 3:17 p.m.)~

The months went by quickly, and Shia learned about everything quickly. She knew that if her mother was real that other beings had to be real as well. She started to get close to Sam and Dean, they were her friends. Sam was like the little brother she always wanted. But with Dean, it was different. They connected on another level. It was easy for him to talk to her. She made him laugh in ways that he didn't think anyone could make him laugh. 

If she had a problem with someone at school, Dean was there to handle it for her. They would train together. 

"If you're going to punch me, you better mean it." Dean said to Shia as she got ready for her afternoon mixed martial arts training session. 

"I'm a trained professional, Dean. I don't want to hurt you." Shia said with a smirk. Dean chuckled.

"You hurt me? Come on sweetheart, not a chance." 

Suddenly, Shia swung her hardest at Dean's face, he easily blocked it. Then she started to kick at him, to which he grabbed her leg, spinning her around and putting her in a position to where she was on the ground and he was hovering her. 

"You were saying?" Dean asked with a cheeky grin. Shia countered him to where she was on top. "I love it when you take control like that." 

Shia rolled her eyes, "you wish, Winchester." Shia got up and started at her punching bag. Dean stopped her as he inched closer to her. 

"I'm not the only one who wishes." Dean said with a wink before leaving her alone to train. Shia watched him leave, her face getting heated from blushing so hard. 

~•~

"The hunt was alright. It was a ghost, we dug her up. Quick salt and burn." Dean told Shia as she made him a sandwich. 

"That sounds exciting." Shia said as she spread the mayo on the bread. "You know, I wish I could hunt more. I wouldn't want it to be a constant thing...just whenever I needed to get steam off...I want to hunt." 

"We should hunt together." Dean said as he took a sip from his drink. "I mean when you're old enough to leave the house without Bobby's say so." 

Shia turned around to look at the young hunter. "I'd like that." 

"Yeah?" Dean asked. Shia gave him a small smile. "You and me...against the world." 

"That has a ring to it." Shia said as she handed Dean his ham sandwich. Dean took it from her, his free hand lingering on her skin. 

Dean's eyes went from her eyes to her lips. Shia sucked in her breath as Dean inched closer to her lips. Then, their lips touched, the sparks between them was unbelievable. Shia missed his lips as soon as they left hers. Dean felt the same way. 

"Dean..." Shia whispered. 

"Dean! Shia!" Sam called out. The pair split from each other as Sam walked in. "I'm not feeling so hot." 

Shia reacted to his words instantly. "Oh Sam." She felt his head, he was very warm. "Okay, let's get you to bed." 

"Feel better, bud." Dean told his little brother as Shia guided him upstairs. 

~•~

"Your powers are growing," Bobby said as he flipped through the pages of his book on Greek mythology. 

"I would assume so." Shia said as her brown eyes went to a blue, white color. Her eyes could be compared to the eyes of Storm, a fictional character in the DC comics. She began to manipulate the object in front of her, allowing it to levitate over the table it sat on. "I mean, I'm getting older." 

"When you want to tell the boys?" 

"When it'll be absolutely necessary for them to know." Shia guided the object back in place before looking at the man she now calls dad. "I don't want them to think I'm a freak." 

"You ain't a freak. I don't want to ever hear you say something like that again!" Bobby snapped. The older hunter wanted to protect his daughter from her own insecurities. He knew she wasn't a freak, she didn't ask to be born. As long as she use her powers for good, he'll never think less of her. "You need to understand that you're wanted and you belong." Bobby walked out the room, getting ready to start dinner for him and his kid. 

Shia watched him walk off. He was right, she was wanted and she belonged.


	2. Pilot: Woman In White (1x01)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John is missing. Dean recruits Sam to help him and Shia find him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should warn you that there is some sexual content in this chapter. Like I said before, this is supernatural and I'm writing as if they didn't know Chuck was writing about their life (which they don't know...yet.) on with the story!

"She's a good girl, loves her mama  
Loves Jesus and America too  
She's a good girl, crazy about Elvis  
Loves horses and her boyfriend too

It's a long day living in Reseda  
There's a freeway running through the yard  
And I'm a bad boy because I don't even miss her  
I'm a bad boy for breaking her heart..." — John Mayer, Free Fallen.

~May 4, 2004 (approx. 12:10 p.m.) HOME OF BOBBY AND SHIA SINGER~

Shia was washing the dishes from this morning breakfast. Bobby was out on a hunt for the next few days. His old hunting buddy, Rufus, called him and asked for help on his newest hunt.

Shia was stuck on phone duty, which was boring for her since no one needed any help nowadays.

The spring day was going by slowly. Shia occasionally played with Rumsfeld to speed up time but even the dog didn't help.

Shia sighed deeply, "Is this what my life has come to?"

Just then, the sound of an engine that she knew far too well rumbled into her driveway.

"No fucking way." Shia mumbled under her breath as she looked outside to see her old friend, Dean Winchester come out of the driver seat. She ran to the door, opening it before Dean could knock.

Shia wrapped her arms around the six foot one man and held him close to her. Although Dean didn't expect the hug, it didn't take him long to react.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Shia asked as she pulled away from him. "Dean, I can't believe you're here."

"Yeah, I wanted to see you," Dean said before giving Shia a look over. It's been about a year since they have seen each other, he made sure that Bobby wasn't at home each time.

"You're supposed to call before coming over, what if my dad was here?"

"Bobby ain't here?"

Shia shook her before crossing her arms. "No, he went out to help a friend on a hunt. I'm by myself."

"Oh really," Dean asked with a cheeky grin. "Looks like we have the place to ourselves." Dean placed his hand on Shia's waist as he began to kiss her neck.

"Oh no you don't." Shia said as gently pushed Dean back. "What the hell are you doing here? Where's John? How come you have the impala?"

"Whoa. Whoa. One question at a time, chatter box." Dean said, licking his lips before speaking once more. "I was on a hunt."

"And?" Shia asked, her hands motioning for him to continue.

"I got cut," Dean said as he lifted his shirt to reveal his wound.

"Shit," Shia gasped at the open wound. "Come inside. I have to stitch that up for you."

Shia gently helped Dean in. "You couldn't have been more careful? What the hell were you hunting?"

"Vengeful spirit."

"Apparently very vengeful." Shia said, pulling out her first aid kit.

"This would have never happened if you would've left with me a few months ago." Dean told her. Shia's eyes found its way to Dean's. He was already staring at her with intensity, not the bad kind.

"I can't leave daddy. He'd freak." Shia whispered. "But I did tell him I need to get out of the house for a while. Go soul searching." Dean gave her a small smile.

"You're such a hippie."

"I'm proud of it." Shia continued to clean Dean's wound in comfortable silence. Dean stared at the young woman in front of him, he loved how concentrated she was on his cut. He knew that she was making sure he was very well taken care of.

"There. You're finished." Shia said as she got up to wash her hands. Dean pulled down his shirt.

"Thanks."

"What are you doing?" Shia asked as she turned around. "You need to get out of that shirt and those pants."

"Already?" Dean asked with a small smile. "You're never in the mood this early."

Shia rolled her eyes before snorting at Dean's comment. "I need to wash the blood out, you flirt."

"Right. Let's face it, you love seeing me naked."

"Maybe." Shia chuckled. "Who knows?"

"I know." Dean told her as he pulled her close to him.

"You're gonna get me all bloody. You need to–" Dean cut her off by placing his lips against hers. Their lips moved in a complete rhythm. Dean flickered his tongue on her bottom lip, telling her that he wanted more. And more was what he got.

~•~

"Are you sure you're not sore?" Shia asked, referring to Dean's wound, as she buckled her bra. The pair had a steamy love making session for the past hour or so.

"I feel fine. The stitches look fine."

"I should've said no to you." Shia giggled as she got back into bed, cuddling next to Dean's unharmed side.

"You never say no to me." Dean said with amusement.

"Maybe I should start." Dean and Shia laughed together for a moment.

"So, how come you have the impala?"

"Dad gave it to me. He has this big truck. I guess the impala is a thing that's going to get passed down in the family." Dean told the woman that was snuggled to his side. He began to play with her hair, the amount of intimacy he shows this woman will never stop surprising him.

"It's a cool thing to have." Shia said before placing soft kisses on Dean's chest. "Dean, how long have we been doing this?"

"Doing what?"

"This. You come over...we have sex for the next few days...then you leave." Shia started tracing circles on Dean's fit stomach.

"We've been doing this for about three years."

"Oh."

Dean licked his lips. "I don't want to do this anymore."

Shia lifted her head off Dean's shoulder, she felt her heart break. She knew that one day he'd end it but she didn't expect it to be so soon. "What?"

"I'm tired of sneaking around and then leaving."

"But we could–"

"I want you to come with me." Dean told her as he pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "I want you to come with me. We've talked about this for a while. Please, I could use your help."

Shia knew that if she were to say no that it would effect their relationship but she really didn't want to leave her dad behind. She cared deeply for the old hunter. But she also cared deeply for Dean.

"Okay."

Dean was a little shocked to hear her agreement. "Okay?"

"Let me pack my things. We'll leave tomorrow morning." Dean smiled at Shia, he gently pulled her in for another kiss.

~October 28, 2005 (approx. 9:43 p.m.) STANFORD UNIVERSITY~

Shia stood outside of the bar Sam and his friends were crowded in. Shia smiled at how grown Sam looked, it was hard to believe that he's now taller than her. Deep down she felt guilty for the appearance she was to make during his "apple lifestyle."

"Dean, why bother him? He's happy now, we can find John on our own. I'm pretty sure Sam will say the same thing. I'll feel terrible to ask him to come with us." Shia said as she watched a couple people leave the bar.

"Dad's missing. Don't you think his son would want to help find him?" Dean asked as he walked back to the Impala, opening the car door getting ready to sit in the driver's seat.

"I'm sure that Sam will be concerned, but to ask him to leave his new life for a weekend is...I don't know."

Dean sighed as Shia scooted inside the impala, taking her place in the passenger seat.

"Babe, I know that you're worried about Sam coming but...trust me, okay?" Dean asked, placing his hand under her chin; his thumb swaying against her skin. Shia nodded as she folded her arms, trying to create warmth.

~•~

The pair stood in front of Sam's apartment complex. Shia's still nervous about seeing Sam again but this was something that needed to be done. Dean looked at the woman beside him, noticing her discomfort.

"I'll go get Sam if you want to wait here." Dean said, giving her an option.

Shia shook her head, "No, it's okay. Let's go."

They both walked up the stairs but they both had different ideas on how to get into Sam's apartment. Shia raised her eyebrow.

"Dean, where the hell are you going?"

"The window..." Dean said nonchalantly.

"There's this thing called a door. You know how to pick it."

"That's too much noise, Shia. You can do that but I'll get in before you." Dean said as he continued to unlock the window. He finally got it open and looked over at Shia. "You coming?"

Shia gave him a blank look, "I'm picking the door." Dean shrugged before going inside.

Shia watched Dean leave, "Idjit." Shia walked a few feet over to the door, she noticed a plant causally sitting there. A lightbulb went off in her head, she lifted the plant bowl to see a spare key. "Too easy."

She promptly opened the door, closing it hurriedly behind her. She heard a few clinks and sounds of struggle so she figure Sam and Dean must be fighting.

"Whoa, easy, tiger." Dean said in smooth, jokingly matter.

"Dean?" Sam asked, his face full of shock. Dean started laughing. "Dean, dude, you scared the crap out of me!"

"That's 'cause you're out of practice." Dean said. Sam grabbed Dean's hand and yanked, slamming his heel into Dean's back pushing Dean to the floor.

"Or not." Sam tapped Dean twice where Sam was holding him. "Okay, Sammy, get off of me." Sam rolled to his feet and pulled Dean up.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Sam asked, clearing confused.  

"Well, I was looking for a beer." Dean said seriously but it was obvious he was really joking.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Sam asked clearly not amused by Dean's banter.

"Okay. All right. We gotta talk." Dean said becoming more serious than he was a few moments ago.

"Uh, the phone?" Sam said. Shia thought the same thing. Dean could have at least attempt to call the boy.

"If I would have called, would you have picked up?" Dean asked. Earning silence from his little brother.

"I'd take that as a no." Shia said making her presence known. Sam turned around to see his best friend standing there with the warmest smile.

"Shia?" Sam asked like he couldn't believe she was in front of him.

"Yeah! Give me a hug! Look at you!" Sam grabbed her and gave her a warm, tight hug. Smiling at the fact he's actually hugging his childhood friend.

"Finally picked the lock?" Dean asked Shia.

"No, I found a spare key." Shia informed him. "Here ya go, Sam." Shia threw the key. Of course Sam caught it easily.

All of the sudden the lights were flicked on and the trio could see a blonde, slim young woman standing there looking towards Sam. She was beautiful. Her pale, milky skin glowed by the lamp she stood near. Her hair fell perfect down her back. She poked her pink lips out in confusion.

"Sam?" She asked. Shia could understand if she was probably wondering who the hell these people were, standing in her living room. The boys turned to look at her.

"Jess. Hey. Dean, this is my girlfriend, Jessica." Sam told Dean. Dean gave his brother's girlfriend a once over. Shia didn't like the way he looked at her, the ping of jealousy stung at her brain. She tried to not become a clingy, overprotective girl that Dean had a fling with but she couldn't help it when it came to Dean. He has that effect on her.

"Wow, Sam, thanks for introducing me." Shia said feeling a bit left out.

"Oh, Shia, I'm sorry. Jessica, this is my best friend. I told you about her, right?" Sam said smiling at his girlfriend, she looked at Shia and then at Dean.

"Wait, your brother Dean? And your best friend, Shia?" Jessica smiled at them, she then looked down to notice Shia's stylish combat boots. She really like them. "I really like your boots." Jessica complimented Shia. Shia could tell it was sincere and not total bullshit.

"Oh, thanks. Dean bought them for me." Shia said with a smile, blushing slightly. Sam chuckled a bit at the thought of Dean shopping. Dean tried to hide his small smile. Jessica smiled. Dean grinned and moved closer toward her.

"Oh, I love the Smurfs. You know, I gotta tell ya. You are completely out of my brothers league." Dean said to the blonde. Shia scoffed softly at the comment. Shia thought there was no way Dean tried to flirt with his brother's girlfriend. Jessica shifted on her feet uncomfortably.

"Uh, let me go put something on." Jessica said as she turned around, but Dean stopped her.

"No, no, no. I wouldn't dream of it. Seriously." Dean said with a smirk on his face. It was Shia's turn to shift on her feet. It was uncomfortable for her to hear Dean flirt with other girls, knowing that they are intimate with each other almost every other night.

The tension in the room was becoming a bit too much for Shia, so instead of staying, she decided to stand beside the impala and wait for Dean to break the news to Sam.

 "Come on. It wasn't easy, but it wasn't that bad." Dean said getting close to the impala.

 "Yeah? When I told Dad I was scared of the thing in my closet, he gave me a .45." Sam reminded Dean. Dean rolled his eyes at Sam's whining about their life growing up.

"Yeah, well, what was he supposed to do?"

"Tell me that I shouldn't be afraid of the dark."

Shia raised her eyebrow at that.

"Don't be afraid of the dark?" Dean asked his brother, incredulously. "Sam, you know what's out there!"

"I have to agree with Dean on this one. John protected you. Although it was a little extreme, you're still alive to this day." Shia informed her best friend her view on the way they were raised. Sam knew better than try to argue with Shia so he heard her out.

"We can't do this alone, Sammy." Dean said stepping in front of Sam.

"Yes you guys can." Sam said to Dean.

"Yeah, well, we don't want to. Trust me, Sam, we wouldn't come here if we didn't need you. So, please. Come with us." Shia said to him. Staring at him with her chocolate eyes. Sam couldn't resist her eyes, she silently begged him to come along.

 "What was he hunting?" Sam asked, giving in to Shia's eyes. Dean smiled and opened the trunk of the Impala, then the spare-tire compartment where the arsenal was secretly kept. Dean propped the compartment open with a shotgun and started to dig through the clutter.

After finally convincing Sam that John was in trouble, he agreed to go with Dean and Shia. In honor of Sam's return, Shia climbed in the back seat and went straight to sleep.

~•~

"So, you two are hunting together now?" Sam asked when noticed that Shia was fast asleep in the backseat. Dean looked from the road to his brother.

"Yeah, we've been hunting together a little over a year now."

"And Bobby allows her?" Sam asked with a dazed expression. He couldn't believe that Bobby would let his daughter out in daylight.

"It was hard to get him to trust me enough to make sure she's safe but he calmed down after a month or so." Dean explained. "He likes her to visit him and help out from time to time, that's understandable."

"Yeah." Sam nodded to himself. "She's so great, you know. Best personality by far."

"Oh I know. It's fun having her around, wouldn't trade her for the world." Dean said but then mentally cursed himself for slipping up. Sam noticed the choice of words Dean had to say. Instead of questioning Dean, he let it go.

~•~

~October 29, 2005 (approx. 9:24 a.m.)~

By the time Shia woke up, it was morning and they were stopped at a gas station.

"Oh. Hey, Sam." Shia greeted as she reached in her bag to find a brush to tame her wild, thick black hair. Sam looked back at her and smiled.

"So, you and Dean, huh?"

"What are you on about, geek?" Shia asked him while looking at him like he was crazy. But in reality, he was right on the money.

"You really thought you could hide that hickey from me?"

Shia's hand immediately slapped over an area on her neck. Sam started laughing. The girl looked at him with confusion.

"There is no hickey." Sam told her. Shia rolled her eyes as she continued to brush her hair. "So, you guys are together..."

"We're not together..."

"But you guys are a thing?"

"We're just...I don't know." Shia said as she shook her head. She really couldn't tell Sam what they were, she didn't know. "You'll never catch Dean being affectionate until we're behind closed doors, I can tell you that much."

"Well I saw that coming. You guys made "eye babies" when we were growing up."

Shia snorted at Sam's choice of words. "Oh shut up, Sam. I was a dorky, sixteen year old girl with braces. And huge glasses."

"Sure, but Dean wouldn't shut up about you."

Shia raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yeah." Sam said with a slight shrug. "He always asked dad if we could just stay at Bobby's during every hunt. But dad didn't like that idea. He knew why Dean was so eager to go over to your dad's house."

"Me?"

"Yeah, Shia, you." Sam said with a small smile.

Dean made his way over to the car with a bag full of snacks in his hand.

"Hey, you want breakfast?" Dean asked Sam. Sam shook his head.

Dean looked over at Shia and smiled. "Hey babe, want some breakfast?"

"Depends on what you got me."

Dean smirked, "I got your favorite. Chocolate covered donuts with chocolate milk."

Shia blushed slightly, "you remember. Thanks." Shia grabbed her things from Dean.

"How could I forget?"

"So, how did you pay for all of this stuff? You and Dad still running credit card scams?" Sam asked. Dean gave Sam a small bitch face look. Did he really think they had actually jobs?

"Yeah, well, hunting isn't exactly pro ball career. Besides all we do is apply, it's not our fault they give them to us." Dean said.

"Yeah? And what names did you write on the application this time?" Sam asked as he swung his legs back inside the car and closed the door.

  
 "Uh, Burt Aframian." Dean answered honestly.

"I voted against the names by the way." Shia told Sam as she put her in a high ponytail.

Dean got into the driver seat and put his soda and chips down. "And his son Hector. And daughter in law, Helen. Scored three cards out of the deal." Dean closed his car door.

  
 "That sounds about right. I swear, man, you've gotta update your cassette tape collection." Sam said. There were at least a dozen cassettes in the box on Sam's lap; some have album art, others are hand-labeled.

"Why?" Dean asked.

  
 "Well, for one, they're cassette tapes. And two." Sam held up a tape for every band he named. "Black Sabbath? Motorhead? Metallica?" Dean took the box labeled "Metallica" from his baby brother. "It's the greatest hits of mullet rock."

  
 "Well, house rules, Sammy." Dean starts to say.

Shia rolled her eyes. "Oh here we go."

Dean popped the classic rock mix tape in the player. "Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cakehole." Dean dropped the Metallica box back in the box of tapes and started the engine.

"I disagree with that rule completely Dean." Shia said as she leaned up in her seat.

"That's why backseat can shut her cakehole." Shia gave Dean a look he knew all too well. Oh no, here it comes.

"Who do you think you're talking to?"

  
 "You know, Sammy is a chubby twelve-year-old." Sam addressed his brother quickly before Shia could chew his ass out. The tape started to play AC/DC's "Back in Black." "It's Sam, okay?"

  
 "Sorry, I can't hear you, the music's too loud." Dean said with a grin before flashing his brother a smile. He looked in the rear view mirror and gave Shia a wink before driving off.

~•~

~October 29, 2005 (approx. 11:28 a.m.) JERICHO, CALIFORNIA~

The arrived at the bridge where the car of a young boy was found.

  
 "Check it out." Dean said as he noticed the police cars. Sam leaned forward for a closer look. Shia was on the phone with morgues throughout the county, in case John has died on the job. Luckily, no one there fit his description.

Shia hung up the phone and leaned forward to get a closer look at the scene in front of her. "You and Sam go, Dean. Three people is a bit suspicious in our case."

"I know, babe." Dean said as he opened the box full of fake ID's, they were mostly the identification of John and Dean. Shia only had very few since Dean never liked the thought of her in the hunting field. "Let's go, Sam."

Shia watched as the boys walked over to the working officers. While they questioned the officers, she opened her laptop.

"11% left? Shit." Shia cursed once she heard the beeping noise coming for her device, signaling that it's going to die soon. "Deaths in JERICHO, California." Just then 12 results popped up dating all the way back to the 70's.

Caroline Franklin, Homicide, 1974.  
George Reed, Homicide, 1979.  
Hershel Cyrus, Homicide, 1980.  
Constance Welch, Suicide, 1981.  
Cody Welch, Drowned, 1981.  
Anna Welch, Drowned, 1981.  
Frank O'Hara, Homicide, 1983.  
Katy Cyrus, Suicide, 1984.  
Jason Devine, Homicide, 1987.  
Tia Norway, Overdosed (Suicide), 1991.  
Diane Richards, Homicide, 1995.  
Gary Witherspoon, Homicide, 2003.

"Looks like this place has had many deaths," Shia mumbled to herself when she noticed the "see more (104) >>" tab. Then something occurred to her when she looked at the names in front of her. The three names that shared deaths in the same year also shared last names. She went to the search engine to find a horrible story on Constance Welch.

— A local woman's drowning death was ruled a suicide, the county Sheriff's Department said earlier today. Constance Welch, 24, of 4636 Breckenridge Road, leapt off Sylvania Bridge, at mile 33 of Centennial Highway, and subsequently drowned last night.  
Deputy J. Pierce told reporters that, hours before her death, Ms. Welch logged a call with 911 emergency services. In a panicked tone, Ms. Welch described how she found her two young children, 5 and 6, in the bathtub, after leaving them alone for several [minutes]. She reported that their complex-[...]  
"What happened to my children was a terrible accident. And it must have been too much for my wife. Our babies were gone, and Constance just couldn't bear it," said husband Joseph Welch. "Now I ask that you all please respect my privacy during this trying time."  
At the time of the children's death and Ms. Welch's subsequent suicide, Mr. Welch was at the Frontier auto salvage yard, where he works the graveyard shift as associate manager.  
"Connie might have been quiet, but she was the sweetest, most caring girl I ever knew," said Deanna Kripke, a neighbor. "She just doted on those children."

"Looks like I found something. Just have to look up the lore on suicide when influenced by heartache—" Just as Shia was typing, her laptop died. Shia rolled her eyes and frowned at the black screen. "Just my fucking luck." She closed the laptop, just to see FBI agents walking towards Sam and Dean. "Oh shit."

They walked away from the agents smoothly.

Sam and Dean got in the car. Dean quickly started the engine.

"What was that about?" Shia asked referring to the FBI agents.

"Nothing we couldn't handle." Dean told her as he looked in her big brown eyes through the rear view mirror. "You need to get down and cover yourself, I'll have to drive past those douchebags." Shia nodded and quickly laid on the floor of the impala, covering herself with a blanket.

~•~

They were now in town looking for, Amy, the girlfriend of the victim. Shia noticed a girl with dark hair putting up signs, she softly nudged Dean to look towards the girl.

"I bet you that's her." Dean said to Shia and Sam.

  
 "Yeah." Sam agreed as they walked up to the young woman.

  
 "You must be Amy." Dean said to her.

  
 "Yeah." Amy said said blankly, as if she didn't want to talk to them.

  
 "Yeah, Troy told us about you. We're his uncles. I'm Dean, this is Sammy." Amy looked at Shia with a raised eyebrow.

"Who's she?"

"My girlfriend," Dean said quickly as he wrapped his arm around Shia's shoulder. Shia looked at Dean trying to mask her surprised expression. In a weird way, she liked the idea of being labeled as Dean's girlfriend.

  
 "He never mentioned you to me."  
Amy walked away. The trio walked with her.

  
 "Well, that's Troy, I guess. We're not around much, we're up in Modesto."

  
 "So, we're looking for him too," Shia told Amy. "and we're kinda asking around." Another young woman with dark long hair, came up to Amy and placed a hand on her arm.

  
 "Hey, are you okay?" The girl asked her friend as her eyes flicked from the trio to Amy.

  
 "Yeah." Amy answered her with a nod.

  
 "You mind if we ask you a couple questions?" Sam asked.

As they walked into a diner, Shia grabbed Dean's arm.

"What?" Dean asked with a gentle expression.

"You and Sam interview the girls. I'm going to head to the library to finish up some research." Shia told him before walking off. Dean quickly grabbed her hand, causing her to turn to him. "Yeah?"

"Be careful, alright?" Dean said to her. "I don't like you running around by yourself."

"I'll be fine. Promise." Shia said before placing a quick kiss on Dean's lips. As she walked off, she froze. 'Did I really just do that?' She thought. Shia turned around to see Dean staring at her. He gave her a small smile. Shia blushed as she continued to walk off.

~•~

Tapping her foot outside the Library, Shia was waiting for the Winchester brothers to show up.

"What did you find?" Dean asked from behind Shia. Without thinking, Shia turned around throw a punch, but Dean caught her hand.

"Sorry, reflex." Shia said as Dean let go of her folded hand.

"Did you find anything?" Sam asked his best friend. Shia nodded and pulled out a stack of papers.

"Yeah, most of it is about this Constance woman. Her kids drowned and then she took high dive swimming lesson with the river. Unfortunately, she couldn't swim." Shia informed the boys as she passed them the printed papers. "What do you two get from the girls?"

"A girl would ask for a ride, the men are never seen again." Dean told her as he read through what Shia got.

"I feel like somehow that's all together with this Constance woman."

"Guys, check out this bridge," Sam said as he showed the picture Shia printed.

"It's the same bridge we were all at earlier," they all said in unison. They looked at each other with raised eyes brows.

"Are we gonna stare at each other or are we gonna get to work?" Shia said as she walked off. Dean and Sam shared a look before following after her.

~October 29, 2005 (approximately 4:32 a.m.) JERICHO BRIDGE~

It was night out. Dean parked the impala in front of the entrance from where the bridge started. The trio got out the car and started to walk the bridge.

Dean, Shia and Sam walked along the bridge, then stopped to lean on the railing and looked down at the river.

  
 "So this is where Constance took the swan dive..." Dean commented. Shia glared at Dean and hit his chest.

"Don't be so insensitive."

Dean rubbed his skin where she hit him, "Jeez. Sorry."

  
 "So you think Dad would have been here?" Sam asked as he glanced over at Dean.

"Well, he's chasing the same story and we're chasing him." Dean told his brother. Dean wrapped his arm around Shia's shoulders as they continued to walk the bridge. Sam followed behind them.  
 "Okay, so now what?"

  
 "Now we keep digging until we find him. Might take a while." Dean commented. Sam stopped in his tracks, irritation flaring up in his mood.

  
 "Dean, I told you, I've gotta get back by Monday—"

  
 "Monday. Right. The interview." Dean turned around, cutting Sam off.

  
 "Yeah."

  
 "Yeah, I forgot. You're really serious about this, aren't you? You think you're just going to become some lawyer? Marry your girl?" Dean asked, the hint of frustration and bitterness was visible in his voice. Shia sighed, she knew this conversation was going to turn ugly fast.

  
 "Maybe. Why not?" Sam said with a shrug. "You gonna marry your girl?"

"Don't drag me into it." Shia said loud enough for both of the boys to hear. She folded her arms and walked further down the bridge.

  
 "Does Jessica know the truth about you? I mean, does she know about the things you've done?"

Sam took a step closer to his brother. "No, and she's not ever going to know."

  
 "Well, that's healthy. You can pretend all you want, Sammy. But sooner or later you're going to have to face up to who you really are." Dean said before turning around, attempting to catch up with Shia. Sam followed closely behind him.

  
 "And who's that?" Sam asked.

  
 "You're one of us." Dean told him. Sam hurried to get in front of Dean.

  
 "No. I'm not like you. This is not going to be my life." Sam informed Dean, firmly.

  
 "You have a responsibility to—"

  
 "To Dad? And his crusade? If it weren't for pictures I wouldn't even know what Mom looks like. And what difference would it make? Even if we do find the thing that killed her, Mom's gone. And she isn't coming back."

Dean grabbed Sam by the collar and shoved him up against the railing of the bridge. Shia heard the shuffle between the two and decided to run over to them.

"I think it's time for you two to cool down." Shia said before placing a hand on Dean's arm. "Dean, come on."

  
 "Don't talk about her like that." Dean said to Sam, referring to their mother. Dean released Sam and walked away.

"Hey," Shia started to say.

"I don't want to talk about it." Dean told her quickly. Shia nodded, deciding to let it go. Dean looked up to see Constance standing at the edge of the bridge, he nudged Shia to look forward.

"Sam." Shia and Dean said in unison, which grabbed the younger Winchester's attention.

Sam walked up to stand next to Dean and Shia. Constance looked over at them, then stepped forward off the edge. Sam and Dean ran to the railing to look over it, Shia following closely behind them.

  
 "Where'd she go?" Dean asked Shia and Sam.

  
 "I don't know." Sam said.

Shia looked around her shoulders. "Something really shitty is about to happen, I can feel it." Dean placed his hand on the small of her back, just to prevent her from having a panic attack.

Behind them, the Impala's engine started and its headlights came on. The trio turned to look.  
 "What the—"

"Actual fuck?" Shia finished for Dean.

  
 "Who's driving your car?" Sam asked. Dean pulled the keys out of his pocket and jingled them. Sam glanced at them.

"Oh perfect." Shia said sarcastically once she noticed the keys in Dean's hand. The car jerked into motion, heading straight for them. They turned and ran.

  
 "Dean? Shia? Go! Go!" Sam yelled as he ran. The car was moving faster than they were; when it got too close, Sam, Shia, and Dean dive over the railing. The car came to a halt.

~•~

Shia's eyes was shut tightly, she was expecting the cold water to hit her skin at anytime. Now was the bad time to be hydrophobic, she thought. She noticed that she wasn't going to fall because Sam was holding on to her hand as he held on to the railing.

"Help me out here, Shia" Sam said pulling her up a little. "Grab on the that railing." She successfully grabbed on the railing, beside Sam.

"Wait, where's Dean," Shia asked frantically as she looked directed towards the river.

"Dean?!" Sam shouted into the wind.

"What?!" An annoyed Dean asked as he laid on the ground covered in mud.

"Are you okay?" Shia asked.

Dean held up an "okay" gesture with his hand. "I'm super."

Sam and Shia shares a glance before Sam chuckled at his brother's discomfort. Shia shook her head and sighed, relieved that Dean was okay.

~•~

Dean shut the hood of his car and leaned on it.

  
 "Your car all right?" Sam asked.

  
 "Yeah, whatever she did to it, seems all right now. That Constance chick, what a bitch!" Dean shouted with an annoyed expression.

  
 "Well, she doesn't want us digging around, that's for sure." Shia said as she wrapped her arms around her waist, holding herself. She still hasn't calmed down from her almost accident with tons of water.

  
Sam and Dean nodded in agreement with her.

"So where's the job go from here, genius?" Sam asked Dean. Sam settled on the hood next to Dean. Dean threw up his arms in frustration, then flicked mud off his hands. Sam and Shia sniffed the air before looking at Dean.

  
 "You smell like a toilet." Sam told his brother. Shia's widen at Sam's comment, she didn't think he would make his odor known. Dean looked at Shia for confirmation, she only gave him an awkward grin. Dean looked down, feeling embarrassed.

"How about we head to a motel and get cleaned up? We're not getting any younger here." Shia said as she opened the backseat door to the impala, getting in.

~October 30, 2005 (approximately 8:12 a.m.)~

After a few hours of looking for reasonable priced motels, they finally found the cheapest one.

Dean threw down his VersaBank MasterCard in the name of Hector Aframian on the handwritten guest ledger.

  
 "One room, please." Dean told the older man. Dean was standing at the motel check-in desk, still filthy, with Sam and Shia right behind him. The Clerk picked up the card and looked at it.

  
 "You guys having a reunion or something?" The older man asked.

  
 "What do you mean?" Sam asked.

  
 "I had another guy, Burt Aframian. He came and bought out a room for the whole month."

Dean looked back at Sam and Shia, giving them a knowing, hopeful look.

~•~

The motel door swung open. Sam was on the other side, having just picked the lock. Sam hid the picks and stood up. Shia slowly makes her way into the room first, Sam following behind her. Dean was just outside, playing lookout, until Sam reached out of the room to grab his shoulder and yank him inside. Sam closed the door behind them. They looked around—every vertical surface has papers pinned to it: maps, newspaper clippings, pictures, notes. There were books on the desk and assorted junk on the floor and bed, including something with a hazardous-materials symbol.  
 "Whoa." Sam said.

"Whoa is right." Shia said staring at all the symbols. Dean turned on a light by the bed and picked up a half-eaten hamburger sitting there. Sam stepped over a line of salt on the floor. Dean sniffed the burger and recoiled.

  
 "I don't think he's been here for a couple days at least." Dean commented. Shia looked over and eyed him.

"I know you did not just sniff that old burger." Shia told him, in a scolding voice. Dean shrugged.

"How could we know its old if we don't sniff it?" Dean asked.

"It has mold on it, Dean." Shia said as she shook her head.

Sam fingered the salt on the floor and looked up. "Salt, cats-eye shells...he was worried. Trying to keep something from coming in." Dean looked at the papers covering one wall. "What have you got here?"

  
 "Centennial Highway victims." Dean said. Sam nodded. The victims seen on the wall include Mark Younger, William Durrell, Scott Nifong who disappeared in 1987 at age 25, and Marshall Parks. Mark, Durrell, and Nifong are all white males, judging by the photos. "I don't get it. I mean, different men, different jobs, ages, ethnicities. There's always a connection, right? What do these guys have in common?"

While Dean talked, Shia and Sam looked at the papers taped to the other walls. There's something about the Bell Witch, two people being burned alive, a skeletal person blowing a horn at several scared people with the note "MORTIS DANSE", a column about "Devils + Demons", another about "Sirens, Witches, the possessed", a wooden pentacle, and a note that says "Woman in White" above a printout of the Jericho Herald article on Constance's suicide. Sam turned on another lamp.

  
 "John figured it out." Shia said as she read over everything once again. Dean turned to look.

  
 "What do you mean?"

  
 "He found the same article we did. Constance Welch. She's a woman in white." Sam told his brother. Dean looked at the photos of Constance's victims.

  
 "You sly dogs." Dean said with a sly smirk. Dean turned back to Sam and Shia. "All right, so if we're dealing with a woman in white, Dad would have found the corpse and destroyed it."

  
 "She might have another weakness." Shia said as she crossed her arms.

  
 "Well, Dad would want to make sure. He'd dig her up. Does it say where she's buried?"

  
 "No, not that I can tell. If I were Dad, though, I'd go ask her husband." Sam said. Sam tapped the picture of Joseph Welch. The caption said he's thirty; the article dates to 1981, so he must be sixty-four. "If he's still alive."

Sam goes to look at something else. Dean looked at the picture below the Herald article, of a woman in a white dress.

  
 "All right. Why don't you, uh, see if you can find an address, I'm gonna get cleaned up." Dean said while his eyes laid on Shia, who was standing beside the bathroom door. Dean started to walk towards her.

  
 "Hey, Dean?" Sam asked. Dean turned around to look at his baby brother. "What I said earlier, about Mom and Dad, I'm sorry."

Dean held up a hand. "No chick-flick moments." Sam laughed and nodded.

  
 "All right. Jerk." Sam said.

  
 "Bitch." Dean retorted.

"B-holes." Shia mumbled, with meant "brothers who are assholes." Sam laughed again.

Dean walked over to Shia, she looked up at him. "Help me get cleaned up?"

"Sure." Shia said as Dean led her in the bathroom. Dean turned to his brother and gave him a wink. Sam scoffed, the thought of his brother and best friend made him cringe. But, in a way, he could see that Dean was different and he knew it was because of Shia.

~•~

"Just throw your dirty clothes in this bag. I'll wash them after we find your dad." Shia told Dean as he ripped off his shirt and turned on the hot, steamy shower water.

Dean noticed how Shia hasn't looked at him since the bridge. "You alright?" Dean asked as he took off his pants.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Shia said with a tight smile. Dean stared at her.

"You really think you can lie to me?"

Shia sighed. "What do you want from me Dean?"

Dean brushed the loose curls out of her face, "I want the truth. What's wrong?"

"I almost lost you out there today." Shia said, looking into his beautiful emerald eyes. "That and I'm hydrophobic. I hate being surrounded by tons of water."

"Well, I'm here...and I'll make sure nothing ever happens to you." Dean said before kissing her soft, full lips. "You're mine." The sound of Dean's voice sent shivers down Shia's spine.

"You should be cleaning yourself up." Shia whispered against his lips.

"Yeah, with your help." Dean said before slowly slipping her jacket off her shoulders. Dean kissed her once more before taking off his boxers, throwing them near the bag of muddy clothes. He lifted Shia's shirt off in one swift motion, he looked at her for a moment...admiring her beautiful figure.

Shia unbuttoned her pants and pulled them down, along with her panties. Dean sucked in his breath, he was lucky to have a girl as beautiful as her. His dirty hands touched her skin.

"Dean, get in the shower," Shia said with a small smile when she noticed the mud traces Dean left on her skin. Dean nodded, grabbing her hand, guiding her in the shower with him.

Shia grabbed the shampoo that Dean used and squirted on his head. She ran her hand through his hair, making sure it was getting clean while Dean washed over his body with "Men & Spice" body wash. The water rinsed on his tan skin, ridding his body from the odorous mud from the river.

Dean gave Shia's body a look over. "See something you like?" Shia teased. Dean gave her a sly smirk before pulling her close to him. He kissed her lips as her held onto her nicely shaped ass, squeezing it gently. Shia moaned at the gesture, allowing Dean's tongue entrance in her mouth.

Dean's fingers made way to her clit, and he slowly made figure eight circles. He knew it make Shia go crazy.

"Shit, Dean." Shia moaned against his lips.

"I love it when you say my name." Dean told her as he connected his lips to her neck, bitting her gently but hard enough to leave a mark. His mark.

"Oh Dean, don't fucking stop."

"I'm just getting started." Dean pushed Shia against the shower wall, cupping her ass, telling her to jump. And so she did, wrapping her legs around his waist.

Kissing his soft, full lips hard. Becoming more desperate for Dean hard groin, Shia grind against him. Dean could feel the heat coming from her core. Dean pulled away from Shia's lips and looked her in the eyes as he slowly made his way inside of her. "Fuck." Shia whispered as she took Dean inside of her.

Dean's hand wrapped around Shia's neck as he pulled her close to him, so he could press his lips against hers once more.

Dean pumped inside of her slowly at first, but then he found his rhythm. He moved at a faster pace, hitting Shia's spot each time.

"Oh!" Shia would gasp after each thrust. Shia pulled his hair, her grip getting harder each time. Dean held Shia up higher, so he could rotate his tongue on her harden nipples. "Fuck! Dean."

"Say my fucking name, babe."

"Dean, please, don't stop." Shia said after each hard thrust. She was starting to feel the familiar bubbly sensation in her lower abdomen, it meant she was getting closer to cloud nine. "I'm so close, Dean."

"Me too baby." Dean whispered with each thrust getting sloppy. Just then the both hit their climax, holding on to each other as they rode out their high.

~•~

"You think Sam heard us?" Shia asked as she pulled up her pants.

Dean grinned. "He definitely heard you." Shia gave Dean a playfully glare before hitting his arm. Dean grabbed her hand, pulling her near him. "You know I meant it when I say that you're mine."

"Yours? As in..." Shia's eyes sparkled with excitement. "Girlfriend?"

"Yeah." Dean said as he brushed a piece of wet hair behind her left ear. "You okay with that?"

"Hell yeah." Shia placed her hand behind Dean's neck and leaned forward to kiss him.

~•~

Shia walked out of the bathroom to see Sam on the phone, listening to his voicemail. She walked over to her duffle bag to grab a new pair of socks. "You should call her back, you know." Sam looked up at Shia. "She's probably worried sick about you."

"I know she's worried sick about me." Sam said with a sigh. "I just don't know what to tell her."

Shia walked over to Sam's bed, she sat by him before playing with his hair. It was a romantic gesture. Shia practically raised preteen Sam when they visited Bobby's house, so Shia knew playing with his hair calmed him down. "I'm not telling you to lie to her, Sam. And I'm not telling you to tell her the truth about what's going on. But you should call and tell her that you're okay. And that you'll see her soon."

Sam nodded. "You're right, I should."

Shia gave him a small smile. "I'm always right."

Dean, clean again, came out of the bathroom and grabbed his jacket. He shrugged it on one shoulder as he crossed the room.

  
 "Hey, man. I'm starving, I'm gonna grab a little something to eat in that diner down the street. You want anything?" Dean asked Sam, ignoring the fact that Sam and Shia were sitting extremely close together.

  
 "No." Sam said as he shook his head.

  
 "Aframian's buying." Dean said as he waved his fake credit card around. Sam shook his head. "Well, what about you, babe? You hungry?"

"I'm hungry but I'm also tired. I don't feel like moving around." Shia said getting up from her spot on Sam's bed, strolling over to stand in front of Dean. "But you know what I like."

Dean's right arm wrapped around Shia's lower back, "Yes ma'am, I do." Dean kissed Shia gently.

"Guys, please." Sam said, interrupting the lovey dovey scene between his brother and best friend.

Dean grinned at Shia before head out the door.

"So, you guys are together?"

Shia turned around with a smile. "Yes, we're together."

Sam smirked before he started to listen to Jessica's messages again, his phone beeped. The caller ID was Dean's number. Sam rolled his eyes before answering it.

"What?" Sam said with an annoyed tone. Shia smiled knowing that he was talking to Dean.

Alarmed, Sam stood up. "What about you?"

"What's going on?" Shia asked.

Sam closed his phone before looking in the window to see an office coming near their room. "Shia, grab our things. Let's go."

Shia quickly grabbed their duffle bags before making her way to the back window, with Sam behind her. "Come on, Sam. We'll have to come back for the impala. Dean probably threw the keys under the car."

~•~

"Stay in the car. I don't want to over tower the guy with two people." Sam told Shia, who was lying down in the backseat. She gave Sam a look.

"Does it look like I was going to move anyways, Sam?" Shia asked before "resting her eyes." She was trying to remain calm, she was worried about Dean although she knew there was nothing to worry about.

Moments passed before heard voices out side the car.  
 "I mean, maybe...maybe I made some mistakes. But no matter what I did, Constance, she never would have killed her own children. Now, you get the hell out of here! And you don't come back!" A man, known as Joesph Welch, said to Sam.

Joesph's face shook, whether from anger or grief it's impossible to tell. After a long moment, he turned away. Sam sighed before making his way back to the car.

"Let me guess, you told him about the woman in white." Shia asked from her place in the backseat.

"Yeah."

"Did he take it well?" Shia asked. Sam turned around and gave her a hard look. "What? It was a genuine question." Shia rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine, maybe I was patronizing you a little."

"A little?"

"How are we going to get Dean out?" Shia asked, changing the subject. Sam threw her one of the phones that Dean had.

"Use your acting skills."

Shia smirked before dialing 911 and screaming to the top of her lungs. "OH MY GOD! I can hear gunshots on Whiteford Road, please hurry!" Shia quickly hung up the phone. Sam raised an eyebrow at her.

"Whiteford Road?"

Shia shrugged. "It's about fifteen minutes away from the station. Giving Dean some time to get the hell out of there."

"We gotta head to Constance house." Sam said, starting up the car. "She's buried there."

"That and she doesn't want to go home." Shia said making a good point.

~•~

After being on the road for five minutes, Sam's phone rang. Sam answered it, putting it on speaker.

  
 "Fake 911 phone call? Sammy, I don't know, that's pretty illegal." Dean's voice said from the other side of the phone.

"You're welcome, Dean." Shia said, rolling her eyes for not getting the credit she deserves.

"Thanks, babe!" Shia grinned at Dean. "Listen, we gotta talk."

  
 "Tell me about it. So the husband was unfaithful. We are dealing with a woman in white. And she's buried behind her old house, so that should have been Dad's next stop." Sam informed the older Winchester.

  
 "Sammy, would you shut up for a second?"

  
 "I just can't figure out why Dad hasn't destroyed the corpse yet." Sam shook his head in frustration.  
 "Well, that's what I'm trying to tell you. He's gone. Dad left Jericho." Shia and Sam's eyes widen from the news.

  
 "What? How do you know?"

  
 "I've got his journal." Dean told him.

  
 "He doesn't go anywhere without that thing." Shia said, mostly to Sam.

  
 "Yeah, well, he did this time."

  
 "What's it say?" Sam asked.

  
 "Ah, the same old ex-Marine crap, when he wants to let us know where he's going."

  
 "Coordinates." Sam said.

"Where to?" Shia asked.

  
 "I'm not sure yet." Dean told them.

  
 "I don't understand. I mean, what could be so important that Dad would just skip out in the middle of a job? Dean, what the hell is going on?" Sam asked, he was getting frustrated but he was also confused. Shia shook her head, she looked up to see Constance a few feet in front of the speeding Impala.

"Sam!" Shia shouted. Sam looked up and hit the brakes. The car went right through Constance as Sam brought it to a halt. 

  
"Sam? Shia? Sam!" Dean shouted through the phone. Inside the car, Sam and Shia's breathing was hard. Constance was sitting in the back seat with Shia.

  
 "Take me home." The ghost said to Sam.

Shia leaned towards the window. "Oh fuck."

  
 "Take me home!" Constance said, getting irritated with Sam.

"Don't do it, Sam." Shia told Sam. Constance turned to Shia and hissed before an invisible force banged her head on the window, cracking it, also knocking her out.

"Take me home!" The ghost said yet again.  

  
"No." Sam said. Constance glared and the doors locked themselves. Sam struggled to reopen them. The gas pedal pressed down and the car began to drive itself. Sam tried to steer, but Constance was doing that too. Sam continued to try to get the door open. In the back seat, Constance flickered.

~•~

Shia woke up with her head pounding, "What the fuck?" She said when she realized the impala was inside of Constance's house.

  
 "Sam! Shia! Sam! You two okay?" Dean said, running in.  

  
"I think..." Sam said, looking around, noticing Shia up and moving. "Help Shia. I can move on my own."

Dean nodded, he reached through the back window so he could help Shia crawl out. "I got you."

"Dean. Sam." Shia said, getting the boys attention, she nodded towards Constance picking up a large framed picture of her and her children.

Constance looked over and the trio, she glared at them and threw the picture down. Dean saw what was coming next so he pushed Shia out the way as a bureau scooted towards Sam and Dean, pinning them against the car. The lights flickered; Constance looked around, scared. Water began to pour down the staircase. She went over.

The children from the picture flickered to where they were downstairs. They held hands and spoke in chorus.

  
 "You've come home to us, Mommy." Constance looked at them, distraught. Suddenly they were behind her; they embraced her tightly and she screamed, her image flickering. In a surge of energy, still screaming, Constance and the two children melted into a puddle in the floor. Sam and Dean shoved the bureau over and go look at the spot where Constance and her children vanished. Shia limping behind them.

  
 "So this is where she drowned her kids." Dean said. Sam nodded in response.

  
 "That's why she could never go home. She was too scared to face them." Shia said from behind the boys. Dean turned around and placed his hand under her chin, giving her face a look over to see if she was hurt.

  
 "You found her weak spot. Nice work, Sammy." Dean slapped Sam on the chest where he's been injured and walked away. Sam laughed through the pain.

  
 "Yeah, I wish I could say the same for you. What were you thinking shooting Casper in the face, you freak?"

  
 "Hey. Saved your ass." Dean said with Shia by his side. Dean leaned over to look at the car. "I'll tell you another thing. If you screwed up my car?" Dean twisted around to look at Sam. "I'll kill you."  
Sam laughed while Shia shook her head at the boys banter.

Dean looked at Shia, his grin falling, he noticed blood trailing down her neck. "Babe, turn around." Shia did what she was told. Dean lifted her long, dark to find an open wound on the bottom of her head. "Shit."

"I feel fine." Shia said, she wasn't lying but she knew that to blood would clear up soon. She's a demigod, she heals five times faster than the average person.

"Sam will stitch you up, okay?" Dean told his girlfriend. Sam grabbed a kit from the truck and got in the back with Shia.

"Let's get the hell out of this Town."

~October 31, 2005 (approximately 3:41 a.m. - Monday morning)~

Sam was now in the passenger seat, Dean was speeding on an empty road. Shia laid down in the backseat, she worried for John. She thought it was odd for him to ignore or not get in contact with Dean. 'What's really going on?' Shia thought before getting up and looking between the Winchester brothers. She looked at the empty space between them and smiled.

"Moving in, boys." Shia said as she dived into the front seat. Her legs coming down on Sam.

"Really, Shia?" Sam asked as he saved the map he was holding from getting by the movement that was happening with Shia's legs.

"Whoops. Sorry." Shia said when her head was in Dean's lap.

"Babe, I'm driving." Dean said as Shia still struggled to get comfortable. Shia was now in the middle of the brothers, she turned to her boyfriend.

"You never complained about my head being on your "lap" the other times."

Sam felt sick to his stomach. "Oh come on, gross." Dean looked at Shia and grinned. Making Sam feel uncomfortable was his specialty, so he liked it when Shia teased him as well.

"Okay, so, here's where dad went." Sam said, "it's called Blackwater Ridge, Colorado."

"Colorado? What the hell?" Shia asked, her voice was full of confusion. Dean nodded at the location.

"Sounds charming. How far?" Dean asked Sam.

"About 600 miles."

"Hey, if we shag ass we could make it by morning." Dean said with a grin. Shia gave her boyfriend a small smile but she knew that Sam wasn't going to go for it, she could tell by the look on his face.

"Dean. I...uh..."

Dean looked to his brother then back at the road. "You're not going..." Shia sighed after hearing the disappointment in Dean's voice.

  
 "The interview's in like, ten hours. I gotta be there." Sam reminded Dean.

Dean nodded, disappointed, and returned his attention to the road. Shia placed her hand on Dean's thigh, giving him a squeeze.

  
 "Yeah. Yeah, whatever." Dean mumbled, he glanced at Sam. "I'll take you home."

Sam turned the flashlight off. They drove in silence.

~•~

They pulled up in front of the apartment, Dean was still frowning. Sam gave Shia a tight side hug before getting out, he leaned over to look through the window.

  
 "Call me if you find him?" Sam asked his older brother. Dean nodded.

"And maybe I can meet up with you two later, huh?"  
 "Yeah, all right." Dean said.

"I love you, Sam. Good luck on that interview. I'm proud of you." Shia said to the youngest Winchester. Sam gave her a nod and smiled.

Sam patted the car door twice and turned away. Dean leaned toward the passenger door, one arm going over the back of the seat.

  
 "Sam?" Sam turned around.

  
 "You know, we made a hell of a team back there."  
 "Yeah."

Shia scouted closer to Dean, he wrapped an arm around her before driving off. Sam watched them go and sighed.

~•~

"I know you miss him already." Shia said as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Yeah, I do, but he has a new life. I get that."

"Doesn't mean you like it." Shia glanced at Dean. "Are you happy for him?"

Dean nodded, "sure I am. I just want to make sure he's safe. My job to make sure he's safe."

Shia placed a kiss on his cheek, "I know babe."

Suddenly, Shia sucked in her breath. She saw flashes of Sam in a fire through her eyes. "Dean! Turn around. Sam's in trouble."

Dean didn't question his girlfriend, she looked disturbed. But he felt like something wasn't right in the pit of his stomach, so he quickly turned around.

~•~

Dean sloppily parked the impala. Shia was following behind her. Dean turned to her. "Babe, call for help. I'll go get Sam."

Shia nodded as she watched Dean run towards Sam's apartment. She pulled out her phone and dialed 911.

It's been moment after the fire, Jessica didn't make it out from the looks of it. Shia stared at Sam, afraid to ask if he was okay. She felt that it would be a stupid question at the moment.

"Hey. You okay?" Dean asked after walking over from the crowd of people the fire brought in.

"I'm fine." Sam tossed his shotgun in the trunk. "Come on. We got work to do."

Shia looked at Sam before opening the impala. Sam's face was masked with anger, grief, and desperation. She felt terrible for him. Without saying another word, the trio got into the impala and drove off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a comment! I like comments... :)


	3. Wendigo (1x02)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Winchesters and Shia are still searching for John. Only to find a beast lurking in the same spot John left the coordinates for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some small sexual content ahead.

"I'm halfway gone, sleepless I'm battle-worn  
You're all I want, so bring me the dawn  
I need the sun to break, you've woken up my heart  
I'm shaking, all my luck could change  
Been in the dark for weeks and I've realized you're all I need   
And I hope that I'm not too late,  
I hope I'm not too late." — James Bay, Need The Sun To Break. 

~November 7, 2005 (approximately 7:12 a.m.) One week after the death of Jessica Moore~ 

"I'm going to grab some coffee for us. You guys keep looking through the newspapers." Sam said before grabbing his jacket and walking through the motel door. 

As soon as Sam walked out the door, Shia sighed. She glared at Dean. "I thought you were going to tell him that looking around for the thing that killed Jessica is pointless, and we should look for John! John will have answers." 

"The kid just lost his girlfriend!" Dean exclaimed. "The guy barely eats, sleeps...hell, he doesn't even talk." 

Shia sighed and looked back down at the papers. "I know. It's scaring me." 

"Sam will get better." Dean told Shia, allowing his fingers to trace the skin on her knuckles. "I'll talk to him tonight. We'll leave tomorrow morning. Just give me a day to talk to him." 

Dean and Shia watched each other for a moment. Shia smirked. "Another thing...he's cramping our style." 

"What do you mean?" 

"Well, I mean usually we would seal the deal right about now but..." Shia said giving Dean a suggestive look. 

"Seal the deal?" 

"Sex! We are usually having sex right now. I haven't gotten laid in about week." 

Dean smirked. "Look at you..." 

Shia rolled her eyes. "Shut your face, Dean." Dean chuckled before going back to reading for any signs of the thing that killed Jessica. 

~November 10, 2005 (approximately 10:24 a.m.) ON THE WAY TO BLACKWATER RIDGE, COLORADO~ 

Sam jerked around in his sleep. Shia looked up from her magazine "The Worm Man Is Real." Shia looked at Sam with sympathy, she really felt for him. He was her little Sammy. Her little guy, even though he's not so little anymore. 

"Dean, he's doing that jerking and shouting again." Shia stated as she leaned up to rest her arms on the front seat, since she was in the back. "Should we wake him?" 

"He doesn't get to sleep...ever. He'll thank me later." Dean said, eyes flickering from the road to Sam then to his girlfriend, Shia. "Babe, don't worry too much. Okay?" 

"I know...it's just...he's my baby." Shia said as she started to play with Sam's hair, which seemed to calm him down for a moment. Dean rolled his eyes. 

"He's not twelve anymore." 

"He's still my baby." 

~•~

Sam jerked awake, trying to catch his breath. He looked over to see his brother and Shia looking at him with worry obvious in their eyes. 

"You okay?" Shia asked before resting a hand on Sam's shoulder. 

"Yeah, I'm fine," Sam replied. Shia nodded, knowing all too well that he really wasn't fine.

"Another nightmare?" Dean asked. In answer, Sam simply cleared his throat.

"You wanna drive for a while?" Dean asked, causing Sam to laugh and Shia giving him a confused look. "In your whole life you never asked me that."

"Just thought you might want to, never mind," Dean said, going back to driving.

"Can I drive for a while, Dean? It would make me feel better." Shia asked leaning forward in the front seat, giving Dean a kiss on the cheek.

"Sure." Dean said with a tight smile. Shia raised an eyebrow. 

"Really?" 

"Hell no. You've been trying to hurt my baby since day one. You will not be driving her, that's for damn sure." Dean said now foucusing on the road ahead of him. Dean heard Shia mumble "dick", but he didn't say anything..he just smiled at her.

"Look guys, you're worried about me, I get it and thank you but I'm perfectly fine." Sam said looking out the window.

"Mmhmm," Shia said, still not believing him.

"Alright, where are we?" Sam asked, bringing about the topic of business. 

Shia started to look around, because she didn't know where they were at either. She spent the whole time reading her "freak week" magazines. 

"We are just outside of Grand Junction," Dean answered.

"You know what? Maybe we shouldn't have left Stanford so soon," Sam said, looking over the map again.

"Sam, we dug around there for a week, we came up with nothing," Dean said. "If you want to find the thing that killed Jessica..."

"We gotta find dad first," Sam finished for him.

"John's disappearing, and this thing showing up after twenty years, it's no coincidence. John will have answers; he'll know what to do." Shia said leaning forward in her seat again.

"It's weird man. These coordinates he left us, this Blackwater Ridge." Sam said as he looked over the map again.

"What about it?" Dean asked.

"There's nothing there, it's just woods," Sam said, producing the map again to prove his point. "Why is he sending us to the middle of nowhere?"

"Hmm. Maybe he's sending us to go hunt Worm Man or something. I mean it is logical to think why he's sending us out there." Shia said looking at both brothers, Dean stared at her with amusement. Sam looked at her like she had three heads. 

"Worm man?" Sam asked. Shia grabbed her magazine and threw it at him. 

"How do you explain that, college boy?" Shia folded her arms. 

Sam read the first sentence and immediately knew it was fake but he decided to play along. "Oh yeah, this is very real." 

Shia glared at the younger Winchester. "I can hear the sarcasm, Sam." Dean and Sam chuckled. "I'm not talking to either of you." 

"Well, I can tell you we're not hunting Worm man." Dean said as he shook his head.

"Then what could it be Dean?" Sam asked. "Obviously he's real." Dean just shrugged and continued driving.

"I hate you both." Shia mumbled before grabbing her fashion magazine instead of freak week. 

The best way to find out what's going on is to investigate.

~•~

Seeking to investigate, the trio arrive at the Lost Creek Visitors Centre.

"So Blackwater Ridge is pretty remote," Shia began recite to the other two, to which only Sam is listening while Dean is transfixed by the picture on the walls. "It's cut off by these canyons here, rough terrain, dense forest, abandoned silver and gold mines all over the place."

"Dude check out the size of this freakin' bear," Dean said, motioning to the picture in front of him. Sam and Shia join him by the picture.

"And a dozen or more grizzlies in the area," Shia finished. "It's no nature hike for sure. Dean, were you even listening to me just then?" 

Dean looked at her and decided to lie about listening to her.

"Of course I was listening to you." Dean grinned as he pressed his lips against Shia's lips. Dean pulled away and smiled. "I always listen."

Sam gave his brother a "yeah right" look. He was sure that Dean wouldn't be able to repeat anything that Shia just said. 

"You guys aren't planning on going out near Blackwater Ridge by any chance?" A voice said from behind them. The three turned to what must be the park ranger staring at the trio.

"Oh no sir," Sam said. "We're environment study majors from UC Boulder, just working on a paper."

"We would like to get the opportunity to go out there one of these days but not this week," Shia said giving the man a smile.

"Recycle, man," Dean pitched in, must to Sam and Shia's dislike. Shia knew the man could see right through Dean's bullshit.

"Bull," the ranger said, and all three suddenly looked worried. "You're friends with that Hailey girl right?"

"Oh, yes we are, me and Hay Hay been best friends since Pre-K," Shia said, taking this opportunity to get some information out of him. "Ranger..." She looked at the name tag. "Wilkinson."

"Well I will tell you exactly what we told her," Ranger Wilkinson began. 

"Her brother filled out a backcountry permit saying he wouldn't be back from Blackwater till the 24th, so it's not exactly a missing persons now is it?" Dean shook his head in answer. "You tell that girl to keep worrying, I'm sure her brothers just fine."

"We will" Dean said wrapping his arm around Shia's waist and pulling her into him as the ranger began to walk away. "Well that Hailey girl's quite the pistol, huh?"

"That's putting it mildly," Ranger Wilkinson said, turning back to them.

"Actually you know what would help is if I could show her a copy of that backcountry permit," Dean suggested. "You know so she could see her brothers return date."

Having got a copy of the permit from Ranger Wilkinson, Sam, Dean, and Shia walked out of the building, Dean laughing smugly.

"What are you cruising for a hook up or something? Sam said, a little annoyed at Dean's excitement to go interview someone. 

"What do you mean?" Dean asked, giving Sam a look. He wanted his brother to know that he should never accuse him of wanting to hook up, at least not in front of Shia. 

"The coordinates point to Blackwater Ridge so what are we waiting for, let's just go find dad. I mean why even talk to this girl?"

"I dunno maybe we should know what we're walking into before we actually walk into it," Dean answered. He and Shia stared at Sam, not fully understanding what they were hearing came from him.

"What?" Sam asked.

"Since when are you all shoot first ask questions later, anyway?" 

Sam pulled a hard look. "Since now." 

"Oh, really?" Dean said as he and Shia followed him into the car.

~November 10, 2005 (approximately 5:57 p.m.) HOUSE OF HAILEY COLLINS~ 

With the permit and Sam's disapproval, the three went to Hailey's house. Dean knocked, and a girl who had to be Hailey opened the door. She had milky skin and dark brown hair. 

"You must be Hailey Collins," Dean said in greeting. "I'm Dean, this is Sam and Shia. We're rangers with the park service. Ranger Wilkinson sent us over, we wanted to ask you some questions about your brother Tommy."

"Let me see some ID," Hailey said. Dean held us his fake ID, smiling widely. Hailey was staring right at the name 'Samuel Cole' so she assumed that he went by his middle name, she let them in. 

"Come on in," Hailey said, happy with the ID and opening the screen door. Shia noticed as Dean walked by Hailey checked him out.

"Thanks," Dean said as he, Sam and Shia made to step into the house. From over his shoulder, Hailey noticed Dean's car.

"That yours?" she asked looking at the Impala.

"Yeah," Dean answered proudly.

"Nice car," she replied before heading into the house, Sam, Dean, and Shia following. Shia rolled her eyes at Hailey's interest in Dean. 

~•~ 

Inside the house, Sam, Dean, and Shia stood around nervously, bombarding Hailey with questions while she brought food bowls from the kitchen to her brother, Ben, who was sat at the dining room table.

"So if Tommy's not due back for a while, how do you know something's wrong? Shia asked.

"He checks in every day by cell reception," Hailey answered. "He sends something everyday, but we haven't heard from him in three days now. Would that worry you a little?"

"Well maybe he can't get reception," Sam suggested.

"He's got a satellite phone too," was Hailey's answer to that.

"Could it be he's just having and forgot to check in," Dean said.

"He wouldn't do that," Ben said suddenly, a little annoyed. Shia looked at him with a raised eyebrow, it was the first time she heard him talk since she's been near him.

"Our parents are gone, so it's us," Hailey told the three. "We all keep pretty close tabs on each other."

"Can I see those pictures he sent you? If you don't mind." Shia asked.

"Yeah," Hailey said. She got out her lap top and opened up the pictures and video's Tommy had sent them while Sam, Dean and Shia looked over her shoulder.

"That's Tommy," she said, motioning to a still from the last recording she sent them. She hits the play button and the recording springs to life. They watched the video. Watching the video, Shia frowned slightly as something she had seen in the background. Something she didn't think was meant to be there. Sam saw it too.

"Well, we'll find your brother" Dean said once the video had stopped. "We're headin' out to Blackwater Ridge first thing."

"Then maybe I'll see you there," Hailey said as she walked across the room. Sam, Dean and Shia glanced at each other before looking up at Hailey, giving her a look that said they didn't think that was a good idea.

Shia pulled Sam to the side to let Dean and Hailey talk.

"Sam, I saw something in that video and I know you did too. You should ask her if she can send that video to us." Shia said, and Sam just nodded. 

~November 10, 2005 (approximately 7:34 p.m.) LOCAL BAR~ 

As per usual, the trio had found the local bar and had gone there to go over thier findings. Shia sat between the two brothers, pulling newspaper articles out to show what they had found so far.

"So, Blackwater Ridge doesn't get a lot of traffic," Shia began. "Local campers mostly. But still, this past April two hikers went missing out there, they were never found."

"Any before that?" Dean asked wrapping his arm around Shia's waist.

"Oh, you know it, Every twenty three years, just like clockwork." Shia said. While she had been talking, Shia had pulled out her laptop, pulling up Tommy's video.

"Okay watch this. Here's a clincher. I downloaded that guy, Tommy's, video to the laptop. Check this out." 

She played the video slowly, frame by frame to show them what she had noticed back at Hailey's. 

A shadow of something in the back of the tent, moving extremely fast. She replay it so the could get a good look.

Hearing this and seeing this the video, Dean reached behind Shia's back and hit Sam on the arm, leaving his arm slung across the seat and round Shia.

"Told ya something weird was goin' on," he said.

"I got one more thing," Shia said, "In '59 one camper survived this supposed grizzly attack. Just a kid. Barely crawled out of the woods alive."

"Is there a name?" Dean asked. In answer, Shia smiled.

~November 10, 2005 (approximately 8:10 p.m.) HOUSE OF MR. SHAW~ 

An elderly man, Mr. Shaw, talked to Sam and Dean while leading them inside his house. Shaw had a cigarette in his mouth.

 "Look, ranger, I don't know why you're asking me about this. It's public record. I was a kid. My parents got mauled by a—"   
Sam interrupted the man. 

 "Grizzly? That's what attacked them?" 

Shaw took a puff of his cigarette then he nodded.

 "The other people that went missing that year, those bear attacks too?" Dean asked. There was a pause in the room. "What about all the people that went missing this year? Same thing?" 

 "We knew what we were dealing with, we might be able to stop it." Shia told the older man, her approach was gentle. Her eyes sparkled with care, it let the man know that she was genuine and she wanted to help. 

 "I seriously doubt that. Anyways, I don't see what difference it would make." Shaw said as he sat down. He looked at Shia then looked down. "You wouldn't believe me. Nobody ever did." Shia sat down across from Shaw.

 "Forget that these guys are here," Shia said pointing to Sam and Dean. "Look at me. Mr. Shaw, what did you see?" He was hesitant to say anything. 

 "Nothing. It moved too fast to see. It hid too well. I heard it, though. A roar. Like...no man or animal I ever heard." 

 "It came at night?" Shia asked.   
Shaw nodded.

 "Got inside your tent?" Sam asked from his spot beside Dean. 

 "It got inside our cabin. I was sleeping in front of the fireplace when it came in. It didn't smash a window or break the door. It unlocked it. Do you know of a bear that could do something like that? I didn't even wake up till I heard my parents screaming." 

 "It killed them?" Shia asked. 

 "Dragged them off into the night." Shaw shook his head. "Why it left me alive...been asking myself that ever since." He moved his hands to his collar. 

"Did leave me this, though." Shaw opened his collar to reveal three long scars. Claw marks. Sam, Shia and Dean looked at them.

 "There's something evil in those woods. It was some sort of a demon." Mr. Shaw told the trio. Shia nodded and thanked him for his time. 

~•~ 

After going to Mr. Shaw's house the trio was now trying to find out what to do with their new information.

"Spirits and demons don't have to unlock doors. If they want inside they just go through the walls," Dean said.

"So it's probably something else, something corporeal," Sam offered up.

"Corporeal? Excuse me professor," Dean quipped.

"Shut up," Shia said, defending Sam, smacking Dean's arm lightly. Dean pretended to be hurt and pulled her in a hug and kissed her hard on the lips. Sam cleared his throat. Shia gave the younger Winchester an apologetic smile. 

"So what do you think?" Sam asked.

"The claws, the speed that it moves, could be skin walker, maybe a black dog," Dean suggested. "Whatever we're talking about, we're talking about a creature and it's corporeal. Which means we can kill it," he finished, leaving the apartment.

Dean stood outside beside his car, loading up with whatever he thought they might need for this hunt, Shia beside him.

"We cannot let that Hailey girl go out there," Sam said as he stopped beside them.

"Oh yeah? What are we gonna tell her? Dean said. "That she can't go into the woods because of a big scary monster?"

"Yeah," Sam said simply.

Dean and Shia glanced at each other, sharing a look. 

"Her brother's missing Sam," Dean said. "She's not just gonna sit this out. Now we go with her, we protect her, and we keep our eyes peeled for our fuzzy predator-friend."

"Finding dad's not enough?" Sam said as Dean and Shia stood away from the car, leaving Sam to slam the trunk shut. "Now we gotta babysit too?" 

Hearing the edge of a true hunter in his voice, something Sam had never cared to be, Dean and Shia stared at him.

"What?" Sam asked as he watched them both staring. They just shrugged, looking away.

"Nothin'," they both answered, Dean chucking the duffel bag roughly towards Sam as he and Shia turned and walked away to go to their room. Sam scoffed, watching them go to their room, he turned to enter his. 

~•~

"I've said it once, I'll say it again." Shia said as she slipped on her see through night gown, "I'm worried about Sam." 

Dean took off his shirt. "Yeah, I know you are." 

Shia turned around to face her boyfriend. Shia crossed her arms and sighed. "But I think he's right." 

Dean gave the woman in front of him a look. "Are you serious? Or are you jealous of Hailey?" 

"What the hell did you just say to me?" Shia asked, her eyes focused on Dean. She moved closer to him. Dean wasn't going to lie...he was a tad bit intimidated. 

"I'm just stating facts." Dean said with his hands up. "You gave the girl snakes eyes when she checked me out." 

"That doesn't mean I'm jealous." Shia said, defending her actions. "The girl is going to get herself killed! We don't really know what we're dealing with anyway." 

"Well it sure as hell ain't Worm man." Dean said, taunting her. Shia scoffed, turning away from him and getting into her side of the bed. Dean watched how she turned off her lamp. "Babe?" 

Shia said nothing, not responding to him one bit. Dean knew he hurt her feelings and he wanted to fix that before she goes to bed. 

Dean made his way into the bed, his big hand resting on her curvaceous waist. He kissed her shoulder before pulling her close to him. Shia knew this affection he was showing was his way of saying sorry. 

"Babe, I like it when you're territorial over me." Dean whispered in her ear as he moved her hair off her neck, placing soft, wet kisses on the spots where her hair use to be. "It's hot." 

Shia couldn't help but moan, Dean knew where her spots were hidden. He had sex with her more times than he could count. 

Dean's finger traced the skin that was under her night gown. He cupped her breast while sucking her on the skin below ear, her favorite spot. 

"Dean." Shia moaned from her lips. Dean had a cocky grin on his face. 

"Love it when you say my name." Dean told her as he kissed down her arm. He led himself between her legs, spreading them. 

Dean kissed down her thighs, his right arm wrapping around her waist, pulling her close to him. Dean undressed her from her tight shorts, revealing her wet core. "Someone's a little eager." 

"Always." 

Dean flicked his tongue on her clit, softly blowing wind to her heated slit. Dean loved to tease her, he loved making her squirm. Dean intertwined his fingers with her as he continued to pleasuring her with his mouth. 

After several intense minutes later, Shia met her climax, leaving scratches on Dean's arm. Dean pulled her close to him, she laid beside him. She traced circles around his chest areas. 

"Go to sleep, babe." Dean whispered. 

Shia looked at him. "But what about you?" She asked referring to pleasing him. Dean shook his head and kissed her forehead. 

"Tonight was all about you." 

Shia laid in his chest, minutes later, she was asleep. 

~November 11, 2005 (approximately 3:21 p.m.) "HIKING TRIP"~

The trio arrived by the woods, they all got out of the car walking towards Hailey, Ben, and some guy named Roy.

"Got room for three more?" Dean said as the three stepped out of the car.

"Wait, you want to come with us?" Hailey asked Dean.

"Who are these guys and lovely young woman?" Roy asked Hailey but he looked at Shia and winked. 

Roy winking at Shia, which did not rub Dean the right way. Shia looked at Dean and saw that his jaw clenched.

"Apparently this is all the park service could muster up for search and rescue," Hailey answered.

"You're rangers?" Roy asked the three who had just arrived.

"That's right," Dean answered with a proud smile. 

"And you're hiking out in biker boots and jeans?" Hailey said, looking down at what Dean was wearing. Dean followed her gaze then looked back up at her with a smile on his face.

"Well sweetheart, I don't do shorts," Dean said as he walked past them. Shia heard what he said and snickered.

"What you think this is funny?" Roy said as Sam and Shia strode past him and Dean stopped at his side. 

"It's dangerous backcountry out there, her brother might be hurt."

"Trust us, Roy, we now how dangerous it can get." Shia winked at Roy, she turned to look at Dean. He was clearly jealous.

"What?" Shia asked.

"You trying to make me jealous?" Dean asked as he raised his eyebrow.

"Now, why would I do that? You're the only one for me, babe." Shia said walking closely beside Dean.

~•~

They were in the woods and Hailey finally figured out they were not Rangers.

"You didn't pack supervisions," Hailey said as she stepped up to him. "You guys are carrying a duffel bag. You're not rangers so, who the hell are you?" 

She pulled Dean's arm back, bringing him to a stop. Before answering, he glanced over at Sam, who nodded as he walked away with Ben. Shia moved to follow them but Dean stopped her, grabbing hold of her arm.

"Sam and I are brothers, and we're looking for our father," Dean said truthfully. "He might be here, we don't know. I just figured that you and me, we're in the same boat."

"Why didn't you just tell me that?" Hailey asked.

"I'm telling you now. Besides it's probably the most honest I've ever been with a woman. Ever." Dean said honestly.

"Trust me, he's not lying," Shia added in at his comment. Dean turned to Shia looking at her, for some reason something is bothering her and he wants to figure out what. 

"Uh, Hailey, so we okay?" Dean said, turning back to Hailey. She nodded. "What do you mean I didn't pack provisions?" Dean finished, pulling out a bag of M&Ms as he and Shia walked away.

"What was that back there?" Dean asked.

"What was what?" Shia said avoiding eye contact.

"The whole 'Trust me, he's not lying,' thing?" 

"I don't know, Dean..."

"You don't think I'm honest with you?"

"Sure," Shia said, to which Dean took hold of her arm and stopped them both. Dean and Shia had a stare down before she finally spoke up about her feelings. "Why didn't you introduce me as your girlfriend when you told her Sam was your brother, huh? What? You're ashamed of me now?"

"Hey. No, I will never be ashamed of you! I didn't think it bothered you so much. I'm sorry. Look, I'm still new to this relationship thing, and I have lied about some things..." Dean looked up at Shia properly and found her glaring at him, eyebrow raised. "I should probably shut up now, huh?" He added.

"Yeah, you really should," Shia said as she walked away. Dean watched her leave, following her moments after. 

Roy led the way, followed by Sam, Ben, Hailey, Shia, and Dean. 

 "This is it. Blackwater Ridge." Roy announced. Sam headed past Roy.

 "What coordinates are we at?" Sam asked. Roy pulled out a GPS, which read N 35o 45.383, W 111o 00.55.

"Thirty-five and minus one-eleven." 

Dean and Shia went up to Sam. They listened to the forest. They heard nothing but silence. 

 "You hear that?" Dean asked Sam and Shia. 

 "Yeah. Not even crickets." Sam answered. 

"Strange for things to be so quiet." Shia said moving ahead of the boys a few feet.   
 "I'm gonna go take a look around." Roy said, cocking his gun. 

 "You shouldn't go off by yourself." Sam told him, in a way vaguely warning him that it's not safe. 

 "That's sweet. Don't worry about me." Roy waved his gun and pushed between Dean and Sam to retake the lead. He bumped shoulders gently with Shia, causing her to give him a hard look. 

"All this open space and you bump into me," Shia said to him. Roy looked at her up and down, he scoffed. 

"Not worth it." Roy mumbled, continuing to walk ahead. 

Shia turned around to talk to Sam and Dean. "I swear to God that if whatever out here doesn't kill him, I will." Dean turned back to the others as Ben and Hailey catch up.

"All right, everybody stays together. Let's go." Dean told the siblings. 

"Hey! Hailey! Over here!" Roy shouted out. Without thinking twice, Hailey ran towards his direction. 

Shia let out an irritated sigh. "These people are gonna get us all killed." 

They all arrived at the campsite to see all the tents torn up and covered with blood. Roy examined the tracks, "definitely a grizzly." 

Hailey started looking around. "TOMMY! TOMMY!" Hailey shouted. 

Shia looked at the girl like she was crazy. Even if it was a grizzly, which it is not, did this girl really think shouting in the middle of the woods was safe? Shia looked at Sam and Dean. "One of you shut her up!" Shia hissed at the brothers. Sam ran over to her. 

"Shhhh." Sam said, placing one finger over his lips. 

"Why?" Hailey asked, getting annoyed with Sam. 

"Something might still be out there." Shia said, stepping in the short conversation. "Your noise will draw it right back to us. So, zip it." 

"Sam! Shia!" Dean called out to them. He was found on his knee, looking at dirt. "Looked like the bodies were dragged." Dean pointed at an empty spot. "But here, they vanish. That's weird." 

"Well, I can tell you boys that it's no skinwalker or black dog." Shia said with an eye roll. The brothers glanced at each other then back at Shia. 

"Are you okay?" Sam asked the woman in front of him. Shia scoffed, looking at both brothers. 

"I'm fine." Shia told them. "I started my period a few hours ago." 

"Okay." Dean said, things were starting to get awkward. He was use to Shia being pissy because he's been around her for so long that he didn't realize that she started her period. 

"After the case, I'll buy you some chocolate." Sam said, showing his best friend some sympathy. Shia's eyes sparkled.

"Thanks, Sam. No one has ever done that for me before." Shia told him before waking to check on Ben and Hailey. Dean gave his brother a glare. 

"What?" Sam asked, innocently.

"Nothing." Dean mumbled before walking off. 

"HELP! SOMEBODY!" An unfamiliar voice screamed into the wind. Everyone hauled ass over to the area where the screams were heard. 

"Sounds like it was coming from over here." Hailey said looking around. 

Once again, it was silent. Sam and Shia shared a look. 

"Everyone back to the campsite." Sam said. No one moved fast enough for Shia. 

"Now!" She yelled in her authoritative voice. Shia doesn't mean to be harsh, she just wanted this to be over so she could relax and lay in bed while she cramped all day. 

Back at the campsite, all the supplies were missing.

 "Our packs!" Hailey exclaimed, shocked to see everything gone. 

 "So much for my GPS and my satellite phone." Roy said, shaking his head.   
 What the hell is going on?" Hailey asked Sam. 

 "It's smart. It wants to cut us off so we can't call for help," was Sam's response to Hailey's question. 

 "You mean someone, some nutjob out there just stole all our gear." Roy said with a scoff. 

Sam went to Dean and Shia. "I need to speak with you guys. In private." The trio headed a little ways away from the group.  
 "Good. Let me see Dad's journal." 

Dean handed it over. Sam opened it and flipped through until he found a particular page. "All right, check that out." Sam pointed to a First Nations–style drawing of a figure.

Shia shook her head, "You've got to be fucking kidding me." 

 "Oh come on, wendigos are in the Minnesota woods or, or northern Michigan. I've never even heard of one this far west." Dean said, trying to make himself think that they were not hunting a wendigo. 

 "Think about it, Dean, the claws, the way it can mimic a human voice." Sam said, making a solid point. 

 "Great." Dean mumbled before taking out his pistol. "Well then this is useless." Sam gave Dean back John's journal and headed past Dean, stopping for a moment.

 "We gotta get these people to safety." Sam said. Shia and Dean nodded. 

Dean looked at Shia. He was worried about her. He knew that she wasn't too fond of Wendigos. Mainly because her and Bobby hunted a Wendigo some years back, Bobby almost lost his life. 

"You okay?" Dean asked Shia, placing his hand on her shoulder. Shia nodded. 

"I'm fine." Shia told him before making her way over to the group. 

~•~

Back at the campsite, Sam addressed the group, which resulted in a little drama between the trio and Roy. Hailey didn't want any problems, so she let the Winchesters and Shia do what they needed to do. 

The group had built a campfire, and Dean and Shia drew something in the dirt around the campsite while Hailey poked at the fire.

 "One more time, that's—" Hailey started. 

"Anasazi symbols. It's for protection. The wendigo can't cross over them." Dean told Hailey for the fifth time. Shia scoffed. 

"If she asks again, I'm going to shoot her." Shia said playfully, but Dean knew she was serious. 

Roy laughed at the thought of the Anasazi sign, gun over his shoulder.  
 "Nobody likes a skeptic, Roy." Dean told him gravely. 

Shia looked over at Sam then back at Dean. Dean was already watching his baby brother sit alone. Shia nudged him. "You go talk to your brother. I'll watch the group." 

Dean nodded before walking over to Sam. Shia sat beside Ben, who was staring at her. 

"You know, taking a picture lasts longer." Shia told the young boy. She gave him a small smile. He nodded at her humor. 

"It's just you look like someone." 

Shia raised an eyebrow, "Ah, yeah, who?" 

Ben pulled out his Greek Mythology book, "I chose Athena, goddess of wisdom and war, for my school project." He flipped through the page to find a photo of Athena's statue. "See, you kind of look like her." 

"I'll be damned, maybe I do." Shia said, giving the boy a tight smile. "If only you knew, kid." 

"Knew what?" Ben asked before closing his book. 

Shia took a sip of the water she in her book bag, "Nothing. Just...stay in school, live a happy life." 

Ben gave her a sad smile, "I can't do that without my brother, Tommy." 

Shia nodded. "I know how you feel, man. Listen, we're going to find your brother. I promise." Shia smiled at the kid before getting up and walking over to the Winchester brothers. 

"I'll tell you what else helps," Dean said. Sam lifted his gaze from the ground to his brother. "Killing as many evil sons of bitches as I possibly can." 

"Did I come at a bad time?" Shia said with one hand on her hip. Dean shook his head. Sam smiled at his brother and best friend. 

Suddenly, a twig snapped. 

"HELP!" The wendigo screamed in a human-like voice. Dean and Sam stood up from their position on their logs. "HELP ME PLEASE!" 

Sam flashed his flashlight through the bushes. 

"He's trying to draw us out. Just stay cool, stay put." Dean told Hailey, Ben, and Roy. 

"Inside the magic circle?" Roy asked, cocking his gun. 

"HELP ME! HELP! HELP!" 

There was a sound of growling coming from the bushes. Roy pointed his gun at the sound. 

"Okay, that's no grizzly." 

"You don't say." Shia said sarcastically from her spot beside Dean. 

Hailey was holding on to her brother, telling him that everything was going to be okay. 

Something rushed past the bushes, Hailey shrieked in response. Roy shot something. 

"I got it." Roy went to go see what he hit. Shia ran after him. 

"Shia!" Dean shouted. He looked at Hailey and Ben. "Stay here!" 

Sam and Dean ran after Shia and Roy. 

Shia continued to follow Roy but he moved a lot quickly than she expected. 

"It's over here! It's in the tree!" 

"Roy, run!" Shia shouted at the him, she then witnessed the Wendigo reach up and snap Roy's neck. Shia stopped her movement. 'Don't fucking move a muscle.' She screamed at herself in her head. She felt breathing on her neck, the creature growling behind her. 

She shut her eyes. Then, there wasn't anymore breathing. She opened her eyes, she was standing behind Ben and Hailey. 

"You guys okay?" She asked. Hailey turned around. 

"Where did you come from?" 

"Out there, of course." Shia said matter of factly. She knew what happened. She orbed back to the campsite, without thinking about it. 

~•~ 

"Shia!" Dean called out to her, his place in the woods. Sam still flashed his light around the area where he stood. 

"Dean, we have to go." Sam told his brother. "Before the thing comes back! Come on! If he has her, we'll get her back." 

~•~

There were rustling noises coming from outside of camp's circle. Shia stood in front of Hailey and Ben, waiting to take on anything that was going to try to attack them. 

Dean and Sam came from out of the bushes, shocked to see Shia standing in front of them. Dean rushed to Shia, pulling her into a tight hug. 

"Why the hell did you run off?" Dean asked once he pulled away from her. He placed his forehead against hers. "Don't ever fucking do that again." 

"I'm sorry." Shia whispered. Dean placed a soft kiss on her forehead. Shia looked at Sam. "You okay?" 

"Are you? How did you get back before us?" Sam asked. Shia shrugged. 

"I kept running and didn't stop. Ended up making a full circle." Shia lied. She knew exactly what happened, she used her powers to escape the Wendigo. Powers that Dean and Sam did not know about yet. 

There was a pause between the trio. 

"Well, all that matters now is that you're safe." Dean said, stroking his girlfriend's cheek. Shia gave him a small smile. 

"We should all try to rest." Shia announced to everyone. She pulled out a blanket from her book bag and threw it to Hailey. "That should keep you and Ben warm. Don't worry, We'll keep watch. We'll have a conversation about what's going on in the morning." The siblings nodded, finding a space by the fire to sleep. 

Shia turned back to the Winchester brothers. "We should take turns. Sam, you go try to rest." 

"But—"

"No buts, Sam. Go rest, now." Shia told Sam. Sam looked at Dean. Dean looked at Shia then back at Sam. 

"Rest your feet, Sammy." Dean told his brother. Sam looked between Shia and Dean, he nodded his head and walked away. 

Shia glanced down at her feet. "I'm sorry I scared you, Dean. I didn't mean to." 

"It's okay, as long as you're safe." Dean told her, placing his large hand on her neck, brushing his thumb against her cheek. 

~November 11, 2005 (approximately 11:43 a.m.) BLACKWATER RIDGE "Hiking Trip"~ 

 "So we've got half a chance in the daylight. And I for one want to kill this evil son of a bitch." Sam told his brother and the group. Shia walked over with her backpack on her back. 

"I'm in total agreement with Sam. Dean?" Shia asked, eyebrow raised. 

 Dean grinned at his girlfriend. "Well, hell, you know I'm in." 

Sam showed the wendigo page of John's journal to Hailey and Ben.

 "'Wendigo' is a Cree Indian word. It means 'evil that devours'." Sam quoted from the journal. 

 "They're hundreds of years old. Each one was once a man. Sometimes an Indian, or other times a frontiersman or a miner or hunter." Dean continued, already knowing the legend behind the Wendigo story. 

 "How's a man turn into one of those things?" Hailey asked. 

Dean picked a couple things up off the ground, toying with it. "Well, it's always the same. During some harsh winter a guy finds himself starving, cut off from supplies or help. Becomes a cannibal to survive, eating other members of his tribe or camp." 

 "Like the Donner Party." 

"Exactly." Shia said, giving Ben a smirk. "Cultures all over the world believe that eating human flesh gives a person certain abilities. Speed, strength, immortality."   
   
"If you eat enough of it, over years, you become this less than human thing. You're always hungry." Dean said. 

 "So if that's true, how can Tommy still be alive?" Hailey asked, she crossed her arms. 

 "You're not gonna like it." Dean told her. Dean glanced at Sam and Shia, then back to Hailey.

 "Tell me." The brown haired girl demanded in a gentle way.

 "More than anything, a wendigo knows how to last long winters without food. It hibernates for years at a time, but when it's awake it keeps its victims alive. It, uh, it stores them, so it can feed whenever it wants. If your brother's alive, it's keeping him somewhere dark, hidden, and safe. We gotta track it back there." 

"And then how do we stop it?" 

"Well, guns are useless, so are knives. Basically—" Dean held up the can of lighter fluid, the beer bottle, and the white cloth he'd picked up. "We gotta torch the sucker." 

"Let's just get this done so we can all be home in time for reruns of Friends." Shia said as she walked forward pass the Anasazi signs. Hailey and the rest of the group watched her leave. 

"She's so hot." Ben said dreamingly. Hailey raised an eyebrow at her brother. Dean might have gave the kid snake eyes, but because of his age, he didn't mind him admiring his girl. It was never going to happen between them. 

~•~ 

Dean and Shia led the group while Sam and the others followed. Sam caught up with Dean and Shia. 

"You know, I was thinking, those claw prints, so clear and distinct. They were almost too easy to follow." Sam whispered to the two of them. 

There was a growling hum that rustled through the trees. Dean, Sam, and Shia's eyes lurked around, trying to figure out which direction it was coming from. 

Hailey was standing under a tree. Blood dripped on her shirt. She noticed and looked up, then leaped out of the way; Roy's corpse landed where she'd stood. 

Dean examined Roy as Sam went over to Hailey. Shia stood beside Ben, wrapping her shoulder around him, telling him "everything is going to be okay." 

 "You okay? You got it?" Sam asked Dean. 

 "His neck's broke." 

Sam helped Hailey up before they heard more growling.

 "Okay, run, run, run, run, go, go, go!" Dean rushed everyone. They all tried to outrun the Wendigo, which was almost impossible. Shia held on the Ben's hand but he fell because she ran a lot faster than him. Sam noticed the stumble, so he backtracked to help Shia and Ben, dividing the group by two. 

Dean and Hailey stopped short: the wendigo was in front of them. Hailey screamed.  
 "Hailey?" 

The group of three stopped running for a moment. Sam stopped running and picked up Dean's Molotov cocktail, the bottle broken.

 "Dean!" Sam shouted out through the forest. 

"Dean!" Shia shouted, equally as loud as Sam. 

~•~ 

 "If it keeps its victims alive, why would it kill Roy?" Ben asked Shia and Sam as they looked for any sign of Dean and Hailey. 

 "Honestly? I think because Roy shot at it, pissed it off." Sam told the boy. 

Shia scoffed, "He knew how to get under someone's skin. Just this time he chose the wrong thing to challenge. 

Ben found a trail of peanut M&Ms and picked one up. 

 "They went this way." Ben said, pointing ahead. Shia and Sam caught up to Ben, who handed over the M&M. Sam laughed.   
 "It's better than breadcrumbs." 

"You can say that again, Sam." Shia said with a smile before following the trail. 

The group of three followed the trail. They came to a mine entrance marked with a sign that said "WARNING! DANGER! DO NOT ENTER EXTREMELY TOXIC MATERIAL." Shia looked and Sam and Ben, shrugged before going inside. Ben and Sam followed closely behind her. Above the entrance was a larger sign that said "KEEP OUT NO ADMITTANCE." 

"Can't say they don't warn you," Shia mumbled under her breath. 

Sam shined the flashlight ahead of them. They heard growling, Sam shut off the light and pulled Ben against the wall, Shia following the action. The wendigo came towards them. Shia was ready to defend Ben and Sam, to whatever cost. She'd give her life. Sam covered Ben's mouth before he can scream. The wendigo took a different tunnel at the crossing. 

Sam, Shia, and Ben kept going. The floorboards creaked causing all three of them to fall through the floor; they landed in a pile of bones. There was another pile nearby of skulls. Ben spotted them and leaped backwards. 

"It's okay." Shia said, soothing his sudden fear of human remains. "You're okay." 

Shia attempted to get up but her foot was stuck in between two rocks covered with bones. "How does something that even happen?" 

Sam helped Ben but then noticed Shia still laying there. "You okay?" 

Shia shook her head, "You both just go, okay? I'll catch up." 

"No, Shia, let me help." 

"Sam, go! Find Dean. I'm right behind, I promise." Sam hesitated but he listened to his friend before grabbing Ben and moving forward. 

Shia heard growling near. Shia sighed, struggling against the rocks. "Fuck, I'm not dying like this." Shia tried to pull her foot out, once again. "Screw being normal." 

Shia's eyes turned into a slightly blazed blue, white-ish color. She held out her hand and said "rock." Once she said that, the rock that was blocking her foot orbed into her hand. Shia moved her foot, throwing the rock aside, her eyes going normal again. 

She ran in the direction Sam and Ben went, only for the group to bump into her. "Well, nice to see you guys running around. Can we go now?" 

There was more growling, only this time, closer. Dean looked at Sam then his girlfriend. 

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Dean asked Sam and Shia. They both nodded. Dean told Hailey and Ben to stay with his brother and girlfriend while he ran after the wendigo. 

"Idiot." Shia mumbled before helping Hailey with Tommy. "Sam, we have to hurry, this guy is losing a lot of blood." 

Sam and Shia ran down the trail, but only to be blocked by a dead end. 

"Son of a bitch." Shia gasped, she gave Hailey her brother before turning to Sam. "It's getting closer, Sam." 

Sam placed his arm in front of her, "stay behind me." 

They were looking face to face with the wendigo. Dean emerged from the corner. "Hey!" Dean shot the flare but the wendigo moved quickly enough to dodge it. 

"You missed?!" Shia shouted. Sam tried to shoot at it but his flare gun was stuck. Shia knew what she had to do. With her eyes going the slightly blazed blue, white-ish color, she stood in front of the wendigo. Forcing it back with the wind that she created with her powers, she flashed her hand at it, flicking it. 

Suddenly, the Wendigo went up in flames. Leaving everyone stunned at what they just seen Shia do. 

~•~ 

"You care of your sister and your brother." Shia told Ben while Sam talked to the cops. 

Ben nodded before walking away, then he turned around to look at her. "Are you Athena?" 

Shia smirked and shook her head, "No, I'm her daughter." Ben's eyes sparkled with amazement. "Finish your project and do well. Don't give my mom a bad name, okay?" 

Ben nodded, "I'll make an A. I promise." Shia chuckled before ruffling his hair with her hand.

~•~ 

Dean looked at Hailey with a smug look, smirking lasciviously. Hailey snorted, smiling despite herself. 

"Must you cheapen the moment." 

Dean grinned. "Yeah." 

Hailey shook her head, "I would make a pass at you but I think she'd kill me." Hailey said referring to Shia. Dean looked over at the girl he proudly called girlfriend. 

"Yeah, she just might." 

"I hope you find your day." Hailey told him before walking over to the ambulance. "Take care of yourself." 

Sam and Shia walked over to Dean and the impala moments later. 

"Man, I hate camping." Dean said, mostly to himself. 

"Me too." Sam agreed. 

"For once, I'll agree with you two." Shia said leaning against the car beside Dean. 

"Sam, you know we're gonna find Dad, right?" Dean asked his brother. Sam nodded. 

"Yeah, I know. But in the meantime? I'm driving." Sam said with a huge grin. Dean tossed Sam the keys, before walking over to the passenger seat. Shia smiling at the brothers before getting in the backseat of the impala. 

~•~ 

They were on the road again. Sam was driving. Sam was looking back at Shia. He wanted to ask her so badly.

"I know you want to know, so I'll tell you. Okay? Both of you guys promise not to freak out. Please?" Shia said as she moved forward to see them better.

"How did you do it?" Sam asked still in a little shocked. Dean didn't want to pressure Shia with questions, he didn't jump her bones because he knew deep down in his soul that she wasn't evil. 

"I'm a demi god."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shia's powers are a mixture of "Storm" from x-men. And the witch power from the awesome show "Charmed." 
> 
> Remember to show me some love! Leave a comment, please! I enjoy it.


	4. Dead In The Water (1x03)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Winchester brothers and Shia stumble upon a hunt that involves drowning victims. Will Shia allow her hydrophobia end her?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave kudos and comments! :)

"I need another story  
Something to get off my chest  
My life gets kinda boring  
Need something that I can confess  
Til' all my sleeves are stained red  
From all the truth that I've said  
Come by it honestly I swear  
Thought you saw me wink, no  
I've been on the brink, so  
Tell me what you want to hear  
Something that will light those ears  
Sick of all the insincere  
I'm gonna give all my secrets away  
This time, don't need another perfect lie  
Don't care if critics ever jump in line  
I'm gonna give all my secrets away" — One Republic, Secrets.

~DEAD IN THE WATER (1x03)~ 

~November 11, 2005 (approximately 8:47 p.m.) ON THE ROAD, DRIVING AWAY FROM WENDIGO CASE~ 

"I'm a demi god," Shia told the boys. They just stared ahead not knowing what to say. Shia rolled her eyes, she was hoping for a bigger reaction. "Whoa, boys, don't get too excited you might pull something."

"Does Bobby know?" Sam asked, looking from the road to Shia. Dean did the same, not wanting to have too much of an input between the conversation going between his girlfriend and his brother. 

"Yes. And he accepts it." Shia said, she sighed before speaking again, "Look, guys, I know this is a lot to take in. You have nothing to worried about. I only use my powers for good and emergencies only. Just don't look at me differently." 

Dean grabbed her hand, and looked at her with sincerity. "We will have to take in the news, but we could never look at you differently." 

Shia gave Dean a small smile, "Thank you, boys. I mean it." 

They both nodded. Shia scooted over the the left window in the backseat, staring out to the scenic road with content. 

Not wanting to bombard her with questions, the boys left her to chill out for a bit. Leaving the ride silent for at least another fifty miles.

~November 20, 2005 (approximately 11:23 a.m.) RESTAURANT~ 

A little outside of town, Sam, Dean and Shia were in a small diner, having just finished eating. Dean was sitting on a stool, going through the local newspapers, looking for their next gig, while Shia sat beside him, stabbing tiredly at her food. Watching their table, a pretty blonde waitress walked over to them.

"Can I get you anything else?" she asked. Dean looked up, pen in mouth, and smiled. Shia rolled her eyes as Sam walks back over to them.

"Oh, honey, the only thing you can get him is the check," Shia told the waitress.

"Okay," she replied, walking away and still smiling at Dean. Once she was gone, Shia aggressively smacked Dean across the back of the head.

"Ow! What was that for?" Dean asked, massaging the back of his head. In answer, Shia simply glared at him, then shifted her gaze to the waitress.

"Her!" Dean exclaimed, shocked… well actually, not all that shocked at what Shia might be thinking. Still glaring at Dean, Shia folded her arms across her chest.

"I wasn't thinking for myself," Dean said with a cocky smile. "It was for Sam, he'd go for a girl like that.." He nodded towards Sam.

"Yeah, sure," Shia said, looking away from him.

"Oh come on! You know I don't think about anyone else but you," Dean said with a cocky grin before connecting his lips with hers.

"Hey, Sam, would you go for a girl like that? Because Dean thinks she's totally your style." Shia said as she motioned towards the waitress.

"What? No!" Sam said, finally getting wind of the conversation. Dean glanced at his brother, disappointed in his eyes. 

"You know, Sam, you are allowed to have fun once in a while," Dean said, and he motioned over to the waitress as she walked into the kitchen. "That's fun." When Sam doesn't answer, he sighed and handed him the newspaper he had been circling. 

"Here, take a look at this, I think I got one," he said, pointing at the picture of the girl he had circled. "Lake Manitoc, Wisconsin. Last week Sophie Carlton, 18, walks into the lake, doesn't walk out. Authorities dragged the water—Nothing. Sophie Carlton is the third Lake Manitoc drowning this year. None of the other bodies were found either. They had a funeral two days ago."

"A funeral?" Sam questioned.

"They buried an empty coffin. For uh, a closure or whatever," Dean said, not really noticing Sam's tone. But Shia did, she shifted in her seat uncomfortably. 

"Closure? What closure? People don't just disappear, Dean. Other people just stop looking for them," Sam said, his voice getting at something more personal to them.

"Something you want to say to me?" Dean said, turning to his brother. Shia rolled her eyes sensing an argument coming.

"The trail for dad—It's getting colder every day," Sam said simply.

"Exactly, so what are we supposed to do?"

"I don't know. Something, anything." Sam said, raising his voice just tad so Dean could hear the edge that layered in it. 

"You know what? I'm sick of this attitude," Dean said, getting angry. Seeing what can only be described as one of their 'moments', Shia avoided looking at either of them, choosing to concentrate on the newspaper in front of her.

"You don't think we wanna find dad as much as you do?" Dean continued, inadvertently bringing Shia into the conversation.

"Don't bring me into it," Shia mumbled as she was looking over the newspaper again.

"Yeah, I know you do, it's just—" Sam began, cut off by Dean. After only one word, Shia could hear the emotion between both of them and chose this time to look up.

"We're the ones that have been with him every single day for the past two years, while you've been off to college going to pep rallies." 

Being her usual mediator, but for reason of her own, Shia placed a hand gently on Dean's shoulder, forcing him to pay attention to her. One look, and the conversation turned calm.

"We will find dad," Dean continued. "But until then, we're gonna kill everything bad between here and there. Okay?" As if in answer, Sam rolled his eyes. Before Dean could even think about saying anything else, the waitress walked past again, distracting Dean.

"All right, Lake Manitoc," Sam began. He and Shia looked up to see his attention elsewhere. Knowing exactly where his attention was, one thought came to Shia's mind. 'Not for him, I'm the only girl he has eyes for, yeah right!'

"Babe?!" Shia said, turning Dean's head to face her.

"Huh?" Dean said as his attention was drawn back to Shia.

"How far?" Shia finished, the edge in her voice telling him he had better keep his attention where it was, or fear getting hit in the head again.

~•~ 

Not that far away, was the answer Dean eventually gave. Driving into the small town, Sam, Dean and Shia pulled up to the Carlton's cabin. They knocked politely and waited until Will Carlton answered the door.

"Will Carlton?" Dean asked in greeting. 

"Yeah that's right," Will answered.

"I'm Agent Ford," Dean continued, showing Will his badge then motioning towards Sam and Shia. "This is Agent Hamill and Agent Morgan. We're with the U.S. Wildlife Service." Dean noticed Will Carlton's eyes on Shia, admiring the beauty he sees, Will simply gives her a smile. Shia, thinking nothing of his gaze, smiled at him back.

Asking the typical U.S. Wildlife Service questions, Sam, Dean and Shia walked with Will out to the lake. The four stopped at the edge of the water, while Bill Carlton sat alone on a bench at the end of the dock.

"She was about 100 yards out," Will told them. "That's where she got dragged down."

"Are you sure she didn't just drown?" Dean asked.

"Yeah," he answered. "She was a varsity swimmer. She practically grew up in that lake. She was as safe out there as she was in her own bathtub."

"So no splashing? No signs of distress?" Sam asked.

"No, that's what I'm telling you," Will answered.

"Did you see any shadows in the water?" Shia asked. "Maybe some dark shape breach the surface?"

"No. Again, she was really far out there."

"You ever see any strange tracks by the shoreline?" Dean asked.

"No, never. Why? What do you think's out there?" Will asked finally.

"We'll let you know as soon as we do," Shia replied as her and Dean turned back to walk to the car.

"What about your father?" Sam asked, still stood where he was and looking out over the dock. "Can we talk to him?" At the mention of his father, Will turned to watch him, still sat on the bench, motionless.

"Look, if you don't mind, I mean… he didn't see anything and he's kind of been through a lot," Will said.

"We understand," Sam said, turning and walking to the car with Dean and Shia.

"Wait, Agent Morgan," Will said to Shia as she turned around to look at him. "I'm going through a lot, and I'd love to talk to you...in case I start to remember anything. Can I have your number so I can keep in touch with you?" Will asking her that question took her by surprise. 

"Uh, sure, I don't see why not," Shia said with a smile giving him her number.

"She has a boyfriend, that's why not!" Dean whispered to Sam. The younger Winchester gave Dean a look that told him that his girlfriend wasn't interested in Will. 

Shia made her way over to the car, getting in, Dean gave her a look. "What?" Shia asked. Dean just turned around and started the car.

~•~

Next stop for the trio, the local police station. Still using their identities as U.S. Wildlife Service, Sam, Dean and Shia were now talking to the sheriff, Jake.

"Now, I'm sorry, but why does the Wildlife Service care about an accidental drowning?" Jake asked as he guided them towards his office.

"You sure it's accidental?" Sam said. "Will Carlton saw something grab his sister."

"Like what?" Jake said, following the trio into his office and closing the door. "Here sit please," Jake said, and they did, sitting in front of the desk as Jake sat behind it.

"There are no indigenous carnivores in that lake," Jake continued. "There's nothing even big enough to pull down a person, unless it was the Loch Ness monster."

"Yeah…." Dean said with a laugh, turning to Sam and Shia. "Right."

"Will Carlton was traumatized," Jake said. "And sometimes the mind plays tricks. Still, we dragged that entire lake. We even ran a sonar sweep just to be sure, and there was nothing down there."

"That's weird though," Shia began, leaning forward slightly. "I mean that's… that's the third missing body this year."

"I know," Jake said, his voice full of emotion. "These are people from my town. These are people I care about."

"I know," Shia said sympathetically.

"Anyway," Jake went on, sighing and leaning back into his chair. "All this—It won't be a problem much longer."

"What do you mean?" Dean asked, forgetting about their fake personas.

"Well the dam, of course," Jake said, eyeing the three suspiciously now.

"Of course… the dam," Dean said. "It's uh… sprung a leak."

"It's falling apart," Shia corrected. "And the feds won't give them the grant to repair it, so they've opened the spillway. In another six months there won't be much of a lake." Jake just simply nodded at Shia. 

Sam and Dean looked at her. 'How the hell did she know that?' Dean thought. 

"Right," Dean said, smiling nervously. Before Jake could question him about his lack of knowledge on the subject, there was a light tapping on the door and the room turned to see a young girl stood in the doorway.

"Sorry, am I interrupting?" she said quietly. "I can come back later."

"Gentlemen and young lady, this is my daughter," Jake said, standing up.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Dean," Dean said, extending a hand which she took.

"Andrea Bar," the girl introduced herself. "Hi."

"Hi," Dean replied, letting go of her hand.

"They're from the Wildlife Service about the lake," Jake said, and Sam, Dean and Shia could sense something in what they were saying. Like there was something that wasn't being said. Andrea's remark helped the theory along.

"Oh," she said, clearly keen to avoid the subject. And the opportunity came as a small boy walked in from behind Andrea.

"Oh hey there," Dean said as he walked in. "What's your name?" 

Without saying a word, the boy walked away, followed quickly by Andrea.

"His name is Lucas," Jake told them as they continued to watch Andrea and Lucas. One look at the two of them and it was very clear they were mother and son.

"Is he okay?" Sam asked as the three turned back to Jake.

"My grandson's been through a lot. We all have." Trying to change and avoid the subject, Jake motioned Sam, Dean and Shia out of his office. "Well if there's anything else I can do for you, please let me know."

"Thanks," Dean said, stopping beside Andrea and Lucas. "You know, now that you mentioned it, could you point us in the direction of a reasonably priced hotel."

"Lakefront motel," Andrea told them. "Go around the corner, it's about two blocks south."

"Two—Would you mind showing us?" Dean said. Andrea laughed slightly, and Sam rolled his eyes. Shia, on the other hand, chose not to stay and walked out of the police station before the others. Why would she want to be around him while he flirts with other women?

"You want me to walk you two blocks?" Andrea asked.

"Not if it's any trouble," Dean said pointedly.

"I'm headed that way anyway," she said, turning to her father. "I'll be back to pick up Lucas at three." She then turned to the boy in question.

"We'll go to the park, okay sweetie?" she said, kissing the top of his head and leading Sam and Dean out of the police station. Dean waved as he walked out and Jake nodded their way.

"Thanks again," Sam said as he followed Dean and Andrea out.

Outside, Shia had joined back up with Sam and Dean, and the three were following Andrea down the road.

"So… cute kid," Dean said, attempting a conversation starter.

"Thanks," Andrea simply said.

"Kids are the best, huh?" Dean continued. While Shia rolled her eyes, Andrea just ignored his comment, stopping outside the Lakefront Motel.

"There it is. Like I said. Two blocks," Andrea pointed out.

"Thanks," Sam said.

"Must be hard with your sense of direction," Andrea said to Dean. "Never being able to find your way to a decent pickup line." At her words, Shia let out a small burst of laugh and tried to hide it with a quick cough.

"Enjoy your stay!" Andrea called back to them as she walked away. Once she was out of earshot, Shia turned back to Dean.

"'Kids are the best'?" she said, repeating his phrase. "You don't even like kids."

"I love kids," Dean said defensively.

"Yeah? Name three children that you even know," Sam said, continuing Shia's argument. Lifting his hand in order to count of the numbers, Dean began to think. And no names came to mind. Knowing they would be there all day if they waited for Dean to think of his answer, Shia waved her hand in a 'forget it' manner and walked towards the motel, followed by Sam.

"I'm thinking!" Dean said, following them and scratching his head in thought.

~•~ 

Inside there room in the Lakeside Motel, two blocks from the police station, Shia sat at the table with her laptop out.

"So there's the three drowning victims this year," Shia told the boys.

"Any before that?" Sam asked.

"Uh yeah…" Shia said, pulling up more sites. "Six more spread out over the past 35 years. Those bodies were never recovered either. If there is something out there, it's picking up its pace."

"So what, we got a lake monster on a binge?" Dean suggested.

"This whole lake monster thing—It, It just bugs me," Shia said.

"Why?" Dean asked, him and Sam moving closer behind Shia.

"Loch Ness, uh Lake Champlain—There are literally hundreds of eyewitness accounts, but here, almost nothing. Whatever it is out there, no one's living to talk about it."

Noticing something on one of the accounts Shia had up, Dean pointed it out to her and Sam.

"Wait, Bar, Christopher Bar. Where have I heard that name before?"

"Christopher Bar, the victim in May," Shia began, reading the page. She opened up the link to bring up more information and a picture. One of Lucas, soaking wet with a towel wrapped round him and a officer by his side.

"Oh… Christopher Bar was Andrea's husband. Lucas' father," Shia continued. "Apparently, he took Lucas out swimming. Lucas was on a floating wooden platform when Chris drowned, two hours before the kid got rescued."

"Maybe we have an eyewitness after all," Sam said, looking down at the article.

"No wonder that kid was so freaked out. Watching one of your parents die isn't something you just get over."

At his words, Shia turned in her seat and looked up at Dean. In those few words, and from the look in his eyes, she could guess at what was running though his kind. She just wished she knew for sure. She wished that, just once in a while, Dean would think about opening up to her. But then again, Dean wasn't that sort of guy. Never had been, never will be. No matter how hard she tried, just to get him to talk to her. Tell her what was going on in that mind of his.

Sometimes she realised, even when they were so different, Sam and Dean were so alike. Neither would open up, say what they were going through. It was the way they were brought up. To be brave. But neither of them knew, the bravest thing you could do, was ask for help when you needed it.

~•~ 

Looking for their one and only lead in this case, Sam, Dean and Shia found Andrea and Lucas in the park. Andrea was sitting on the outskirts on a bench, watching Lucas play.

"Can we join you?" Sam said as they stepped up to her.

"I'm here with my son," Andrea said, looking briefly up at them.

"Oh…. Mind if we say hi?" Dean said, walking towards Lucas and practically dragging Shia along with him. Watching them leave, Andrea laughed slightly and turned to Sam as he sat next to her.

"Tell your friend those whole 'Jerry Maguire' thing's not gonna work on me," she told him.

"I don't think that's what this is about," Sam said honestly.

"Does she have kids?" Andrea asked, focusing her gaze on the woman with long black hair. 

"Who? Shia? No. She doesn't have kids, she's good with them though," Sam said looking out to see Shia and Dean talking to Lucas, he took a mental note in asking if she wanted kids one day.

While Sam and Andrea sat talking, Dean and Shia walked over to Lucas, who was sat leaning against a bench and coloring, with toy soldiers set up beside him.

"How's it goin?" Dean said as he and Shia stopped at the bench beside Lucas. They both knelt down so they were sat in front of Lucas. Trying to make conversation, Dean picked up one of the toy soldiers.

"Oh I used to love these things," he said. And acting like the big kid he was, he started making gun noises and explosions, throwing one of the soldiers down like it had been shot. Begging him to stop, Shia gave him a look and Dean took the hint.

"So crayons is more your thing?" he continued. "That's cool. Chicks dig artists. You drawing like this will get you girls in middle school. Trust me." Shia scoffed softly at his comment and began looking through the pile of pictures Lucas had drawn. Normal drawings for a kid. Houses, bicycles, huge black swirls.

"Hey, these are pretty good," Shia said, dropping the pictures.

"You mind if I sit and draw with you for a while?" Dean said, picking up a crayon. "I'm not so bad myself."

Dean sat on the table beside Lucas, picking up a pad of paper. Shia also moved, leaning against Dean's knee as he drew.

"You know, I'm thinking you can hear me; you just don't want to talk," Dean began. "I don't know exactly what happened to your dad, but I know it was something real bad. I think I know how you feel. When I was your age, I saw something."

Seeing the emotion in his eyes again, Shia hugged Dean's knee, letting him know that she was there for him. He didn't wanna talk about it, and pulling it out of him wouldn't help.

"Anyway…" Dean said, swallowing slightly as he continued. "Well maybe you don't think anyone will listen to you, or uh… or believe you. I want you to know that I will. You don't even have to say anything, you could draw me a picture about what you saw that day with your dad on the lake."

Lucas didn't do or say anything. He just continued to draw.

"Okay, no problem," Dean said. "This is for you," he finished, handing the picture to Lucas.

"This is my family," he said, pointing out the different people. "That's my dad." At the next person, Dean paused slightly before skipping quickly over the name. "That's my mom. That's my geek brother, and that's me and this is my beautiful girlfriend." At her mention, Dean ran his fingers roughly through Shia's hair. She smiled, both of them looking at Lucas and waiting for a reaction that didn't come.

"All right, so I'm a sucky artist," Dean said finally, dropping the pad.

"See you around, Lucas," Shia said as both of them stood up and left.

Once Dean and Shia had left his sightline, Lucas picked up Dean's drawing, staring down at it.

~•~

Walking back over to Sam and Andrea, Dean and Shia joined in with the conversation that was already in full flow.

"Lucas hasn't said a word," Andrea was saying to Sam. "Not even to me—Not since his dad's accident."

"Yeah we heard. Sorry," Dean said as he and Shia stopped beside them.

"What are the doctors saying?" Sam asked.

"That it's a kind of post-traumatic stress," Andrea told them.

"That can't be easy, for either of you," Shis said sympathetically.

"We moved in with my dad," Andrea said. "He helps out a lot. It's just… when I think about what Lucas went through, what he saw…."

"Kids are strong," Dean added, trying to be supportive. "You'd be surprised what they can deal with."

"You know, he used to have such life," Andrea said with a smile on her face at the memories. "He was hard to keep up with, to tell you the truth. Now he just sits there. Drawing those pictures, playing with those army men. I just wish…." Andrea paused as Lucas walked up to them.

"Hey sweetie," Andrea said as he stopped beside Dean. Without a word, he held a picture out to Dean. The picture was of what looked like a cabin or hut.

"Thanks… Thanks Lucas," Dean said as Lucas walked back to his table, Andrea watching him curiously. 

~•~ 

That night, Shia laid in bed with her boyfriend beside her, his back to her. She knew he was thinking about his mother a lot more than usually, she wanted to help but pushing him into a conversation will not work. 

Then she looked over to Sam in his bed, he jerked in his sleep every two minutes. He was dreaming about Jessica, Shia assumed. The demi god sighed. She wanted the boys to talk to her, that's why she's there. She wanted them to share their burdens with her, it wasn't fair if they carried everything. 

Shia turned to wrap her arms around Dean's waist. Almost instantly, Dean reacted to her touch. Dean sleepily shifted his body to where he laid on his back, pulling Shia to his side. Shia placed a soft kiss on Dean's chest before falling back to sleep. 

~•~

~November 21, 2005 (approximately 10:23) MOTEL ROOM~ 

The next morning in the motel room, and it's just Dean and Shia. Shia sat watching Dean with a smile on her face as he flicked through his fathers journal, trying to find an answer to this mystery of a case.

"You know, I didn't know you were so good with kids," Shia said, finally breaking the silence.

"Don't worry babe," Dean said, not looking up. "There's a lot about me you don't know yet."

"Yeah, that has come to light recently," Shia said, not all too sure if she wanted Dean to hear it or not.

"Meaning?" Dean said, turning to her.

"Well, I know you never talk about Mary, but…." Shia began, but Dean cut her off as he sighed loudly and turned away. "Come on Dean," Shia said, insistent on sticking to the subject this time. "That stuff you said with Lucas today. I was there too, you can't expect me to forget it. Were you thinking about Mary?"

"I didn't say anything about my mom," Dean said simply.

"No, but you were thinking it," Shia said. She knew it was the truth when Dean stayed quiet.

"I get it, you know," Shia continued softly. "I know you think I don't, but I do." Dean turned and slowly came eye to eye with Shia.

"Shia, it's just… I'm just…." Shia let out a gentle laugh as Dean trailed off.

"I get that too," Shia said, knowing exactly what he meant. "I just want you to know that when you are, you've got me." 

Smiling at her, Dean softly caressed Shia's cheek as she smiled back. He leaned in and embraced Shia with a kiss, lacing his fingers through her hair. The kiss deepened as she pulled him closer to her. Dean moved his lips from his and made a kissing trail down her neck while his hands roamed her body. 

They pulled apart from each other hearing Sam walk in. 

"So, I think it's safe to say we can rule out Nessie," Sam said as a hello.

"What do you mean?" Shia asked.

"I just drove past the Carlton house. There was an ambulance there," Sam answered. "Will Carlton is dead."

"He drowned?" Dean asked.

"Yep, in the sink," Sam announced, to which both Dean and Shia stared at him.

"What the hell?" Dean said. "So you're right, this isn't a creature; we're dealing with something else."

"Yeah, but what?" Sam questioned.

"I don't know. A water wraith maybe? Some kind of demon? I mean, something that controls water…." Something came to Dean. "Water that comes from the same source."

"The lake," Shia said as all three came to the same conclusion.

"Yeah," Dean remarked.

"Which would explain why it's upping the body count," Shia continued. "The lake is draining. It'll be dry in a few months. Whatever this thing is, whatever it wants, it's running out of time."

"And if it can get through the pipes, it can get to anyone, almost anywhere," Dean said. "This is gonna happen again soon."

"And we do know one other thing for sure," Sam said. "We know this has got something to do with Bill Carlton."

"Yeah, It took both his kids. Damn, I'm starting to feel bad for the poor guy," Shia said, giving the obvious answer, although it was clear the Sam knew something they didn't.

"And I've been asking around," Sam began to tell them. "Lucas' dad, Chris—Bill Carlton's godson."

"Let's go pay Mr. Carlton a visit," Dean said, standing up and throwing his jacket on.

Up at Bill Carlton's house and he is again sat on the bench at the end of the dock, string out blankly at the water.

"Mr. Carlton," Sam said, announcing their presence as he, Dean and Shia walked up the dock. Shia looked around at the water, she was starting to feel nervous. She hated that she was hydrophobic, but she couldn't help it. The thought of drowning made her sweat. 

"We'd like to ask you a few questions if you don't mind," Shia said as they stopped beside him.

"We're from the Department—" Dean continued, but was cut off by a distraught Bill Carlton.

"I don't care who you're with," he said, not looking up at them. "I've answered enough questions today."

"Your son said he saw something in that lake," Sam continued. "What about you? You ever see anything out there? Mr. Carlton, Sophie's drowning and Will's death—We think there might be a connection to you or your family."

"My children are gone," Bill Carlton said, cutting into Sam's speech. "It's… it's worse than dying. Go away… please."

Seeing what was clearly a distraught father, Shia turned to leave, making sure the boys followed her and didn't try to ask any more questions.

Sam, Dean and Shia made their way back to the car, discussing what little they had just found out.

"What do you think?" Sam asked the other two.

"Aw, I think the poor guy's been through hell. He's depressed, I would be too if I lost both of my babies," Shia said.

"I also think he's not telling us something," Dean added as they stopped beside the car which was parked outside of Bill Carlton's house. Dean stared up at the house, noticing something suddenly.

"What is it?" Shia asked, seeing the way Dean was looking up at the house.

"Huh. Maybe Bill's not the only one who knows something," Dean replied, pulling Lucas' picture from his pocket. It was a pretty accurate resemblance of the house in front of them. Pointing it towards Sam and Shia, they too saw the connection he did. Lucas.

Picking up on one of the best leads they had since they started this case, Sam, Dean and Shia went to Andrea's house to speak to Lucas.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think it's a good idea," Andrea had said after Dean had asked to speak to him.

"I just need to talk to him, just for a few minutes," Dean continued persistently.

"He won't say anything, what good's it gonna do?" Andrea said.

"Andrea, we think more people might get hurt," Sam said, trying to get through to her the best he could. "We think something's happening out there."

"My husband, the others—They just drowned," Andrea said, truly believing that. "That's all."

"If that's what you really believe then we'll go," Shia said, trying to be comforting and persistent at the same time, something she had had to learn to master with Dean.

"But if you think there's even a possibility that something else could be going on here, please let me talk to your son," Dean finished, desperately needing her to say yes.

And she said yes. Sam, Dean, Shia and Andrea all walked to the doorway of Lucas' room, watching him drawing with the toy soldiers spread out around them. Dean carried on walking further into the room, kneeling in front of me.

"Hey Lucas. You remember me?" He looks down at the pictures Lucas has drawn, seeing two more pictures of a red bicycle.

"You know, I, uh… I wanted to thank you for that last drawing," Dean continued. "But the thing is, I need your help again." Giving no kind of response to the fact that Dean was there, Lucas continued drawing what looked like a person in water. Watching him, Dean opened up the picture Lucas had given him, laying it down in front of him.

"How did you know to draw this? Did you know something bad was gonna happen? Maybe you could nod yes or no for me." Lucas said nothing.

"You're scared," Dean went on. "It's okay, I understand. See, when I was your age, I saw something real bad happen to my mom, and I was scared, too."

Knowing it was all coming out now, Dean glanced quickly up at Shia standing by the doorway, suddenly wishing all this had come out earlier.

"I didn't feel like talking, just like you," Dean said as he turned back to Lucas. "But see, my mom—I know she wanted me to be brave. I think about that every day. And I do my best to be brave. And maybe… your dad wants you to be brave, too."

Finally giving a reaction, Lucas dropped his crayon and looked up at Dean. Still watching him, he handed him another picture, this one of a church, a small house and a boy with a red bicycle.

"Thanks, Lucas," Dean said, watching as he went back to his drawings.

~•~

Searching for the location in the picture, Sam, Dean and Shia were driving away from Andrea's.

"Andrea said the kid never drew like that till his dad died," Dean said, his eyes on the road.

"There are cases going through a traumatic experience could make people more sensitive to premonitions, psychic tendencies," Sam suggested.

"Whatever's out there, what if Lucas is tapping into it somehow?" Dean asked the car collectively. "I mean it's only a matter of time before somebody else drowns." 

Sam looked a little less than convinced, and Dean picked up on this.

"If you got a better lead, please," Dean said. And Sam didn't.

"All right… we got another house to find," he said, looking down at the picture.

"The only problem is there's about a thousand yellow two-stories in this county alone," Dean said.

"See this church?" Sam said, motioning the picture towards Dean and Shia. "I bet there's less than a thousand of those around here."

"Oh, college boy thinks he's so smart," Dean joked. The other two laughed slightly, leaving a small silence when they stopped. 

Pushing out of the silences, Shia leaned against Dean's seat from the back of the car. Sam glanced at Dean then at Shia. 

"You know, um… what you said about mom, you never told me that before," Sam said. 

"It's one f those thins I've never known about you." Shia added to Sam's comment. 

"It's no big deal," Dean said, brushing it off. But Shia carried on staring at Dean from her position, making him slightly uncomfortable at the look she was getting in her eyes.

"Oh God, it's not gonna be one of those moments, is it?" he said. Shia laughed softly, wrapping herself loosely round Dean's neck and kissing his cheek. Now this was the Dean she was used to… and could deal with, unfortunately.

Looking now for the church and not just the house, Sam, Dean and Shia eventually found the scene inside Lucas' picture.

The yellow house was owned by an old women living on her own who seemed shocked to see three strange young people standing on her doorstep.

"We're sorry to bother you ma'am, but does a little boy live here, by chance?" Dean said and the shock suddenly turned to sorrow. "He might wear a blue ball cap, has a red bicycle."

"No sir. Not for a very long time," she began, letting them into her house and telling the story. "Peter's been gone for 35 years now. The police never—I never had any idea what happened. He just disappeared."

While she was talking, something caught Shia's eyes. A set of toy soldiers set out on the table. She pointed them out to Dean, both of them thinking the same thing. Maybe there was another reason why Lucas had been playing with them.

"Losing him," the woman continued. "You know, it's… It's worse than dying." Similar looks of realization came over Sam, Dean and Shia's face at the use of a phrase they had heard only once before.

"Did he disappear from here," Dean asked, knocking away the look. "I mean, from this house?" the woman shook her head.

"He was supposed to ride his bike straight home after school, and he never showed up," she said. Dean's attention was now drawn by something else. Walking to the table, Dean pulled a picture of two boys from the mirror, one with a red bicycle. He turned it over and read from the back.

" 'Peter Sweeney and Billy Carlton, 1970.' " he looked over at Sam and Shia. Another connection, leading straight to Bill Carlton. The trio headed for the door.

"Wait, young lady," Ms. Sweeney said. Shia stopped and looked at her.

"Ma'am?" Shia asked.

"When you have children, keep a close eye on them. Please," Ms. Sweeney said to Shia. Shia looked at her with great sympathy in her eyes.

"Oh, trust me, I won't let anyone take my children. They'd have to kill me first," Shia turning to head for the door. Dean walked with her back to the car.

"So, you want kids?" Dean asked.

"Honestly. I did, but with this job...you can't," Shia said looking towards the ground. "We should hurry to Bill Carlton's house." Dean nodded and head towards the car, getting in and driving off.

Now in the car, Sam, Dean and Shia were driving down to Bill Carlton's place, going over everything they knew about this case.

"Okay this little boy, Peter Sweeney, vanishes, and this is all connected to Bill Carlton somehow," Sam said.

"Yeah, Bill sure as hell seems to be hiding something, huh?" Dean continued.

"And Bill—The people he loves—Are all getting punished."

"So what if Bill did something to Peter?"

"What if Bill killed him?" Shia added, speaking up.

"Then Peter's spirit would be furious. It'd want revenge. It's possible," Dean finished as they pulled up to Bill Carlton's house, getting out of the car and checking round for him.

"Mister Carlton?" Sam and Shia called into the air. And in answer the sound of an engine broke through the silence of the lake.

"Hey, check it out," Dean said as the trio turned to see Bill Carlton driving out onto the lake in a boat. Trying to keep him off the lake and live for as long as possible, Sam, Dean and Shia raced to the dock, yelling out to him.

"Mister Carlton!" they called out in unison. "You need to come back! Come out of the water! Turn the boat around!"

But Bill Carlton didn't. He simply turned to give the three a quick glance before driving further out. And as he went out further, a torrent of water rose up beneath his boat, sending him and the boat spiraling through the air. Sam, Dean and Shia jumped back in horror as the boat and Bill Carlton sank beneath the surface. She turned to look elsewhere. Dean grabbed her and pulled her into a hug.

~•~

The trio ended up getting kicked out of town, Sam and Shia thought the job was done but Dean thought otherwise. They went back to town and headed for Andrea's house, she was going to drown in the bathtub until the trio came in and saved her.

While Sam and Shia were comforting Andrea, Dean was in the other room flipping through old scrapbooks. He had now picked one up that said 'Jake – 12 years old'. Flicking through the pages, his eyes widened as he stopped on one, racing back to Sam, Shia and Andrea. He laid the book down in front of Andrea, showing a picture of a Boy Scouts group.

"Do you recognize the kids in these pictures?" Dean said, pointing to the picture in question.

"What? Um… Um, no," she said, glancing over the picture quickly then pointing to one of the boys. "I mean, except that's my dad right there. He must have been about 12 in these pictures." She moved her finger over to a different picture, one of her father with Peter Sweeney.

"Chris Bar's drowning," Dean said, turning up to Sam and Shia. "The connection wasn't to Bill Carlton. It must have been to sheriff."

"Bill and the sheriff," Shia concluded. "They were both involved with Peter."

"What about Chris?" Andrea said, reminding them she was still there. "My dad—what are you talking about?" From the corner of his eye, Dean watched noticed Lucas walk into the room and stare out of the window.

"Lucas?" Dean said, causing the other to turn in that direction. 

"Lucas, what is it?" As an answer, Lucas opened the door and walked out, the other four following him.

"Lucas, honey?" Andrea called as they walked after him. He carried on walking, stopping by a section of ground. He looked down at it then looked up at Dean who had stopped beside him.

"You and Lucas get back to the house and stay there, okay?" Dean told Andrea. She did so, pulling Lucas away to the house.

Moments later and Sam and Dean are digging into the spot of ground Lucas had stopped at, Shia watching carefully beside them. 

Their spades hitting against something with a thud, Sam and Dean reached into the ground to pull out whatever they had hit, Shia moving closer beside them. It was a red bicycle.

"Peter's bike," Sam said.

"Who are you?" Jake's voice echoed from behind the. Sam, Dean and Shia all turned to find him standing there with a gun aimed at them.

"Put the gun down, Jake," Shia said, calmer than she felt.

"How did you know that was there?" Jake said, not lowering the weapon.

"What happened," Dean said, not trying to stay calm at all. "You and Bill killed Peter, drowned him in the lake and then buried the bike? You can't bury the truth, Jake. Nothing stays buried."

Outside, Sam, Dean and Shia were still trying to get Jake to lower his gun and tell them what they needed to know.

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about," Jake said once they had tried to explain their version of events to him.

"You and Bill killed Peter Sweeney 35 years ago,' Dean repeated. "That's what the hell I'm talking about."

"Dad!" Andrea called as she ran up to them.

"And now you got one seriously pissed off spirit," Dean continued.

"It's gonna take Andrea, Lucas, everyone you love," Sam said, being the rational one as usual. "It's gonna drown them. And it's gonna drag their bodies God knows where, so you can feel the same pain Peter's mom felt. And then, after that, it's gonna take you, and it's not gonna stop until it does."

"Yeah, and how do you know that?" Jake said, gun still aimed high.

"Because that's exactly what it did to Bill Carlton," Shia finished.

"Listen to yourselves, the three of you. You're insane," Jake said.

"I don't really give a rat's ass what you think of us," Dean said, and he really didn't. "But if we're gonna bring down this spirit, we need to find the remains, salt them, and burn them into dust. Now tell me you buried Peter somewhere. Tell me you didn't just let him go in the lake."

Andrea had now had chance to hear the whole story.

"Dad, is any of this true?" she asked.

"No. Don't listen to them," Jake said, never taking his eyes off Sam, Dean and Shia. "They're liars and they're dangerous."

"Something tried to drown me. Chris died on that lake. Dad, look at me," Andrea called, and he did. "Tell me you—you didn't kill anyone." Not able to lie to his daughter, Jake turned away, lowering the gun and breathing heavily.

"Oh my God," Andrea whispered, clasping her hand over her mouth in shock.

"Billy and I were at the lake," Jake said, beginning to re-tell the whole story. "Peter was the smallest one. We always bullied him, but this time… it got rough. We were holding his head under the water, we didn't mean to. But we held him under too long and he drowned. We let the body go, and it sank. Oh Andrea, we were kids. We were so scared. It was a mistake. But, Andrea, to say that I have anything to do with these drownings, with Chris, because of some ghost… it's not rational."

"All right listen to me, all of you," Dean said. "We need to get you away from this lake as far as we can right now."

They were distracted as a gasped echoed from Andrea. They all turned in the direction her eyes had travelled to find Lucas heading down towards the dock.

"Lucas!" Jake called as the group ran to him. By the lake, Lucas knelt by the dock, reaching his hand towards the surface of the water, Peter's voice still echoing out.  
"Come play with me."

"Lucas!" Dean called as they got closer.

"Lucas! Baby stay where you are!" Andrea called out. From under the water, a hand came up, pulling Lucas below the surface just as Sam, Dean, Shia, Andrea and Jake reached the edge of the water. Jake is the only one to stop, frozen in place as he sees Peter's head just above the water surface, watching him before he dives back under.

Sam, Dean, Shia and Andrea continued running, Sam and Dean diving quickly into the water without slowing.

"Oh my God!" Andrea called in shock, pulling off her jacket and heading to the edge of the dock after Sam and Dean.

"Andrea, stay here," Shia called, holding her back.

"No, Lucas!" Andrea screamed, struggling under Shia's hold.

"They'll get him just stay on the dock," Shia said, keeping hold of Andrea as her struggles lessened. They stayed on the dock, watching as Sam dove under and Dean came up for breath. Moments later, Sam was up as well.

"Sam?" Dean called, asking. Sam shook his head.

"Lucas where are you," Andrea called, tears in her eyes. As Sam and Dean dove back under the surface, Jake pulled off his jacket and waded into the lake.

"Peter," Jake called over the water. "If you can here me. Please Peter, I'm sorry. I'm so—I'm so sorry."

"Daddy, no," Andrea screamed, falling to her knees as Shia kept a hold on her trying to comfort her.

"Peter," Jake continued. "Lucas—He's just a little boy. Please, it's not his fault, it's mine. Please take me."

"Jake, no!" Dean called as he came up to the surface and saw the commotion above water. But Jake didn't listen. He continued to shout as Pete swam up underneath him.

"Just let it be over!" he called. And it was as Peter dragged him under the surface.

"Daddy! Daddy! No!" Andrea screamed, utterly distraught. Sam and Dean dive under again, Sam surfacing shortly after and shaking his head to Andrea. Andrea continued to cry. Shia looked in the lake and thought she saw someone. She knew it was a long shot for it to be Lucas but the hunter inside of her told her to check. 

"Lucas? Peter?" Shia asked as she leaned forward to get a good look. It was Peter. He grabbed her ankle and dragged her into to the water. Andrea screamed as she saw Shia get drag in.

Shia struggled against Peter's strength. As she started sinking, she looked up to see she was at least five feet under the water. Her hydrophobia started to freak her out, she swayed her hands around as if she was going to get a hold of something, then she started to scream. But no one heard her, her lungs began to fill with water. Then, black out. 

As Andrea cried, thinking she had now lost both her father and her son, Dean surfaced from the water, Lucas tight in his arms.

"Dean! It has Shia! It took her down!" Andrea screamed as she was holding on to Lucas. Dean became frantic, he did what came natural, so he jumped back in and attempted to save his girlfriend. 

Moments later Dean came to the surface and had Shia in his arms, Sam rushed over to help him. Dean tried everything, but she wasn't breathing.

"Come on! Wake up! You can't leave me like this! Come on, please. I need you be okay. We can stop hunting for a while, just like you wanted. You wanted to take a break. You asked for just one week. I promise we'll take that week off, jus wake up! I need you to be okay! Damn it, Shia," Dean yelled as he held on to her lifeless body. Sam was now in tears, he thinks he just lost his best friend.

"Dean, she's gone-" Sam started to say but Dean didn't want to hear it.

"Don't you say that to me, just don't." Dean said holding on to her. 

At that moment his world was crashing down, they haven't been officially dating long, but they've known each other for years. He was in love with her, he loved everything about her. He loved how everyone around her could be sad, but she would find a way to make them happy. 

She was easy to talk to. She had the weirdest laugh, it was cute to him though. He loved the way her hair would curl up in humid weather when she just straighten it minutes before. He loved that see wasn't skinny or super thin, he loved her curvaceous body. He loved how her dark brown eyes looked light brown in the sun, he loved her brown skin...Dean loved everything about her...now she's gone.

Sam stared at Dean, he couldn't believe it. He best friend was gone, he couldn't deal with another heartbreak. First Jessica, now this.

He looked at Shia for a minute, he noticed her finger moved. 

Moments later her body wasn't so lifeless anymore. She started to cough up a massive amount of water. 

Dean started to kiss her face, he was holding on her tightly. Sam pulled Shia away from Dean so he could give her a hug.

"Whoa, boys, what the hell happened?" Shia asked, her voice was raspy from all the coughing she did. Sam just simply smiled at and pulled her into another hug. Dean shook his head before moving the wet pieces of hair, stuck to her skin, away from her face. 

~•~

Dried off and ready to put this town behind them, Sam, Dean and Shia walked out of their motel room and to the car. Watching Dean as she walked beside him, Shia knew what Dean was thinking. It was written clearly across his face.

"Look, we're not gonna save everybody," she said as they stopped by the car.

"I know," Dean replied, but the look on his face was still there.

"Sam, Dean, Shia," Andrea's voice called out to them as she and Lucas walked up to the three.

"Hey," Dean said as they stopped in front of the car.

"We're glad we caught you. We just um, we made you lunch for the road," Andrea said, motioning to the tray in Lucas' hands. "Lucas insisted on making the sandwiches himself."

"Can I give it to them now?" Lucas spoke up softly. The group smiled, Andrea kissing Lucas gently on his forehead.

"Of course," she replied.

"Come on Lucas; let's load this into the car," Dean said, guiding Lucas to the car and leaving Sam and Shia with Andrea.

"How you holding up?" Shia asked.

"It's just gonna take a long time to sort through everything, you know?" Andrea said, emotion clear in her voice.

"Andrea, I'm sorry," Shia said sympathetically.

"You guys saved my son," Andrea said with a small smile. "I can't ask for more than that. Dad loved me. He loved Lucas. No matter what he did, I just have to hold on to that."

At the car, Dean loaded the sandwiches into the car and turned in his seat to face Lucas.

"All right, if you're gonna be talking now, this is a very important phrase, so I want you to repeat it one more time," Dean said with all sincerity.

"Zeppelin rules!" Lucas repeated.

"That's right. Up high," Dean said, holding up his hand which Lucas high fived.

"You take care of your mom, okay?" Dean said, standing out of the car.

"All right," Lucas said as Sam, Shia and Andrea walked up to them. Leaning against the car door, Andrea leaned forward and quickly kissed Dean.

"Thank you," she said as she pulled away. For a minute, Dean was little bemused from the kiss. But then again, the way women changed their minds so often had always confused him.

"Sam, Shia, move your asses," Dean said, turning away and moving to the drivers side. "We're gonna run out of daylight before we hit the road."

Sam and Shia followed him into the car, the three of them smiling as Andrea and Lucas waved goodbye as they pulled away.

Driving away, the three drove in almost complete silence, the radio the only sound. As he drove, Dean watched Shia in the rear-view mirror. She was slouched against the seat, gazing distractedly out of the window.

"Shia, are you…." Dean began. He was distracted as she leaned forward, wrapping her arms loosely round Dean's neck and smiling.

"Don't ask," she said, kissing him as he turned slightly to look her way. "You don't have to. You saved my life, Dean. Thank you."

Smiling, Dean turned back to the road, his free hand laced in Shia's as she held her arms round his neck still. Watching them from the corner of his eyes, Sam smiled softly. He always wondered what kept his brother and his best friend together. As long as they were happy, he was happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave kudos and comments! I love to read them! :) Also, tell me what you think of the story so far?


	5. PHANTOM TRAVELER (1x04)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A demon possesses planes to where there are "no survivors". The Winchester brothers and Shia get a possible lead on John's whereabouts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Kudos and Comments are always welcomed! :)

"When my heart is ready to burst  
When the world spins in reverse  
I'll keep running  
To the place where I belong  
When you go, turn down the light  
No one's here to hold you in the night  
I'll keep running  
To the place where I belong  
When you think you're on your own  
I'm still coming home!  
When our picture fades in the sun  
And all the colors blur in the one  
I'll keep running  
To the place where I belong  
When you think you're on your own  
I'm still coming home!" — James Bay, Running. 

~PHANTOM TRAVELER (1x04)~ 

~DECEMBER 3, 2005 (approximately 2:15 p.m.) MOTEL ROOM~ 

Shia was in the motel room alone reading through books about other beings that she and the Winchesters might run into one day. 

Just as she was getting really into the book, Shia heard a faint knock at the door. She walked over slowly to the door with a gun in her left hand, Shia opened the door to reveal a young man at little older than herself.

"Um, hi, how can I help you?" Shia asked awkwardly yet politely. She gave the young man a smile, not wanting him to catch on the fact that she has a gun trained on him through the door. 

"You must be Shia, It's great to finally meet you," The man said returning the smile she gave him. "Is it alright if I come in? We have to talk." Shia gave him a weary look before cocking her gun, aiming it at his forehead. The man's eye widen with shock, he lifted his hands up, just to show her he meant no harm. 

Shia nodded her head at him, telling him to come in with her gun still on him. "How do you know my name?" Shia asked as she walked towards him. 

She noticed his appearance. He was about 5'10". He had dark brown hair, and light brown skin. His eyes were a beautiful brown. She felt like she vaguely knew him. 

"I'm your brother, Shia. I know it might sound crazy put Athena is my mother. I met her about ten years ago when I was eighteen, she came to me in my dorm room at this University I use to attend. She told me about my siblings and how we are all destined for something. I'm pretty sure she didn't tell you about me or your other brother, Michael. Oh, I'm being rude. I'm Julius," He said gesturing for a hand shake, Shia looked at him for a minute and took action into her own hands. 

She waved her hand throwing him against the wall, she thought of holy water and it appeared in her hands, she took the flask off and threw the holy water on him. She waited for his skin to sizzle. He didn't burn.

"I'm not a demon! I'm your brother," Julius said getting up. He walked slowly towards her. "Please, trust me."

"What he says is true, you are our sister," a deep voice behind her said. 

"You must be Micheal." Shia commented, now aiming her second gun at both of their heads. 

Then, she took in his appearance. He was about 6'2". He had jet black hair, cut in a fade only leaving a patch of curly hair at the top of his head. He had dark brown eyes and dark skin. He walked over to Julius to stand beside him.

"Okay, I get it! You're my brothers. What the hell do you want? And why am I just not finding out about this? What's going on? Tell me now," Shia said looking at them softly. She saw some similar features, the have the same form of smile. They have similar noses, Athena's nose. Damn it, she has brothers. 

Great, more men in her life. 

"Wait, I thought I was Athena's only child?"

"No, you are her only daughter," Michael corrected.

"How many of us out there?" Shia asked as she slowly sat on the bed. Micheal sat on the opposite bed, and Julius sat beside her.

"Just us three," Julius told her. Shia didn't know what to say.

"There's a war that will start soon. Humans, Heaven, and Hell. For now, you need to worry about demons. There's one demon that's after your neck. His name is Azazel, known as Yellow eyes. He's a big fan of the Winchesters. As soon as he found out who you were, he was out for you. Now, little sister, you must stay safe. You need to use your powers more. The more trained and confident you are with your abilities, the better. I know you don't like using your powers, but as of right now it's a way to keep you safe. That's why we're here, to tell you that. 

We've been keeping an eye on you though. Anyone that wants to hurt you will have to go through your big brothers. But, we won't be there for you all the time. See, I have a life. You know? I have a job and a house. You can drop by anytime. We have to leave now the Winchesters will be here at any minute," Michael said as he walked over by the door. He gave Shia a goodbye smile and left. 

Shia took a look at Julius and he was looking at her, blankly.

"I don't know what to say," Shia said looking at her hands.

"It's okay. It's a lot to take in," Julius said giving her a side hug. She didn't understand how she was so comfortable around them both, it's like she have known them her whole life. "I have to go, see you around." He used his orbing powers to leave. 

Moments later the Winchester brothers walked in, they looked at the room and it was a mess.

"What the hell happened? How-," Dean said but he looked at Shia and stopped. "Hey, Shia, baby. You okay? What happened?"

"Oh, nothing, I'm fine," Shia told him with a smile.

"Are you sure you're okay? You look like you had a bar fight in here," Sam said looking at the broken objects in the room...

"Yeah, I'm fine. How about we go to the diner and get something to eat? I'm starving." Shia stated as she headed over the door. The two brothers shared a confused look and followed Shia to the door.

Shia hid her very confused look, trying to take in the news she just received from her...brothers.

~DECEMBER 14, 2005 (approximately 5:42 a.m.) MOTEL ROOM~

Out of town in a small motel room, Dean and Shia are asleep in their usual spooning position. The door to their room opened a crack and Dean awoke slowly, shifting slightly and waking Shia. The door slammed, startling Dean and Shia fully awake. They looked up to see Sam walking in the room carrying coffee and donuts.

"Mornin', sunshines," Sam said brightly, clearly having been awake for hours. Sam heard Shia mumble 'fuck off'. He laughed slightly forgetting that she can be a little grumpy in the morning.

"What time is it?" Dean asked.

"It's about 5:45," Sam answered. Shia rolled her eyes at the mention of the time. She hated early mornings. 

"In the morning?" Shia asked, touching her face to make sure she was really awake. 

"Yep," Sam replied.

"Where does the day go?" Dean said as he and Shia sat up in bed. 

"Did you get any sleep last night?" he asked Sam.

"Yeah, I grabbed a couple hours," Sam said unconvincingly.

"Liar," Dean said. "'Cause I was up at three, and you were watchin' the George Foreman infomercial."

"Hey, what can I say? It's riveting TV," Sam said.

"When was the last time you got a good night's sleep?" Dean asked.

"I don't know. A little while, I guess. It's not a big deal."

"Yeah, it is."

"Look, I appreciate your concern—"

"Oh, I'm not concerned about you," Dean cut in. "It's both you guys job to keep my ass alive, so I need you sharp." Sam shrugged, a small smile playing at his lips.

"Sam, honey, are you still having nightmares about Jess?" Shia said.

"Yeah," Sam said, sitting on the bed across from Dean and Shia, handing them both a cup of coffee. "But it's not just her. It's everything. I just forgot, you know? This job—man, it gets to you."

"Well, you can't let it," Dean said confidently. "You can't bring it home like that."

"So, what? All this—it never keeps you up at night?" Sam asked, to which Dean shook his head. 

"Never? You're never afraid?"

"No, not really," Dean said. Knowing better, Sam reached under Dean's pillow and pulled out the knife that was hidden. Shia, clearly unaware of the fact that was there, turned to glare at Dean.

"Dean, what the hell?" Shia asked a little shocked that he kept knives hidden.

"That's not fear," Dean said, snatching the knife back. "That is precaution."

"Precaution my ass, next time tell me you have knives under your pillow," Shia said, smacking his shoulder playfully, to which Dean smiled cockily at her, pulling her into a hug, giving her a solid kiss on the lips.

"All right, whatever. I'm too tired to argue," Sam said just as Dean's cell phone rang. The three stared at it before they answered. There weren't many people who had that number, who would be calling at this hour.

"Well, I'm not getting it," Shia said looking between the boys. Dean sighed. Cautiously, Dean answered it.

"Hello?"

"Dean, it's Jerry Panowski," the voice on the other end said. The name rang no bells for Dean. "You and your dad helped me out a couple years back."

"Oh, right, yeah," Dean said, the memories finally falling into place. "Up in Kittanning, Pennsylvania, the poltergeist thing." 

At the mention of a previous job, Shia, who had been listening to Dean's end of the conversation with Sam, also clicked on who would be on the other end.

"It's not back, is it?" Dean continued.

"No, no," Jerry said. "Thank God, no. But it's something else, and, well, I think it could be a lot worse."

"What is it?" Dean asked.

"Can we talk in person?" Jerry asked in return, not to eager to discuss this over the phone from his office.

"Yeah, sure, we'll get there as soon as we can," Dean said as he hung up the phone.

"Who was it?" Shia asked as she used her powers to make her brush appear in her hands. The brothers looked at her, they were still getting use to her using her abilities. "Are you guys still shock I use my powers often now?"

"No, but it's just...it's not something you see everyday," Sam said. Shia shrugged, getting off the bed and heading to the bathroom.

~••~

Not too long later, Sam, Dean and Shia arrived at Jerry's workplace, a construction site for old or broke down airplanes. Jerry was guiding the three through the warehouse, talking about what his earlier phone call had been about.

"Thanks for makin' the trip so quick," Jerry said. "I ought to be doing you guys a favor, not the other way around. Dean, Shia and your dad really helped me out," he said, turning to Sam.

"Yeah, they told me. It was a poltergeist?" Sam said, a passing employee overhearing them.

"'Poltergeist'? Man, I loved that movie!" the employee piped up.

"Hey, nobody's talkin' to you. Keep walkin'," Jerry said to his employee before turning back to Sam. "Damn right, it was a poltergeist—practically tore our house apart." 

Jerry this time turned to Dean and Shia. "I'll tell you somethin'—if it wasn't for you guys and your dad, I probably wouldn't be alive." His attention again flicked to Sam.  
"Your dad said you were off at college. Is that right?"

"Yeah, I was," Sam said. "I'm….takin' some time off."

"Well, he was real proud of you. I could tell. He talked about you all the time."

"He did?" Sam said, glancing over at Dean and Shia who were smiling his way.

"Yeah, you bet he did. Oh, hey, you know, I tried to get a hold of him, but I couldn't. How's he doing, anyway?"

"He's, um….he's wrapped up in a job right now," Dean said, not willing to go into detail to people outside of the family right now.

"Well, we're missin' the old man. We get Sam. Even trade, huh?" Jerry said, and the four of them laughed slightly.

"No, not by a long shot," Sam said.

"I've got somethin' I want you guys to hear," Jerry said, guiding them into his office. While Sam, Dean and Shia sat on the three chairs across from his desk, Jerry sat at his computer, playing a CD into the player.

"I listened to this," Jerry said as he turned back to the trio. "Well, it sounded like it was up your alley. Normally, I wouldn't have access to this. It's the cockpit voice recorder for United Britannia Flight 2485. It was one of ours."

He hit the play button and the CD kicked in. over all the static and other sounds coming from the recording, they could just manage to hear the sound of voices.

"Mayday. Mayday," Chuck's panicked voice rang out. "Repeat. This is United Britannia flight 2485 requesting immediate instructions and help."

"United Britannia flight 2485, we copy your mayday," a calmer man replied.

"We may be experiencing some kind of mechanical failure…." Chuck continued, but his voice was suddenly taken over by a demonic sounding hissing and an even more demonic sounding growl. At this point, the CD stopped and Sam, Dean and Shia exchanged a confused look.

"Took off from here—crashed about two hundred miles south," Jerry told them. "Now, they're saying mechanical failure. The cabin depressurized somehow. Nobody knows why. Over a hundred people on board—only seven got out alive. The pilot was one. His name is Chuck Lambert. He's a good friend of mine. Chuck is, uh….well, he's pretty broken up about it—like it was his fault."

"And you don't think it was?" Shia said.

"No, I don't."

"Jerry, we're gonna need passenger manifests, a list of survivors—" Sam began, counting off on his fingers.

"Right. And any way we can take a look at the wreckage?" Dean cut in.

"The other stuff is no problem, but the wreckage—fellas, the NTSB has it locked down in an evidence warehouse. No way I've got that kind of clearance.

"No problem," Dean said, shrugging. Shia looked over at him, knowing all too well he was up to something.

They were making their way to the car, Shia walking beside her boyfriend.

"Dean, what are you thinking?" Shia asked.

"Dirty things about you. Follow me," Dean said giving Shia a wink and making her blush. 

~••~ 

Having already been sat outside the Copy Jack for quite some time now, Sam and Shia were getting a little bored of waiting for Dean. Just as one of them were about to go in looking for him, he walked out oh so casually.

"You've been in there forever," Sam said as he walked up to them.

"You can't rush perfection," Dean said, holding up two fake ID's.

"Homeland Security?" Sam said as he took his.

"That's pretty illegal, even for us," Sam said as they moved to sit in the car.

"Where's my ID?" Shia asked.

"Oh, you're not coming with us," Dean said as the three climbed into the car, Dean and Shia in the front while Sam climbed into the backseat.

"What the hell do you mean I'm not coming with you?" Shia asked.

"You'll be our getaway driver if we get busted," Dean said grabbing her hand and giving it a sweet kiss.

"Wait, I'm driving your baby?" Shia asked. Dean just gave her a smile.

"All right, so, what do you got?" Dean asked Sam.

"Well, there's definitely EVP on the cockpit voice recorder," Sam said as she opened his laptop.

"Yeah?" Dean said.

"Listen," he said as he played an audio recording from the laptop. 

After a minute of static, a clear voice came through, creepily uttering two words.

"No survivors."

"'No survivors'?" Dean questioned as Sam stopped the recording. 

"What's that supposed to mean? There were seven survivors."

"We don't know," Shia said.

"So, what are you thinkin'? A haunted flight?" Dean asked.

"There's a long history of spirits and death omens on planes and ships, like phantom travelers," Sam said.

"Mm-hmm," Dean said in agreement.

"Or, remember Flight 401?" Shia said.

"Right—the one that crashed," Dean began. "Then the airline salvaged some of its parts, put it in other planes, then the spirit of the pilot and co-pilot haunted those flights."

"Right," Shia answered.

"Yep," Dean replied.

"Maybe we've got a similar deal," Shia suggested.

"All right, so, survivors," Dean said, holding up the list. "Which one do you wanna talk to first?"

"Third on the list—Max Jaffey," Sam said, pointing at his name.

"Why him?" Dean asked.

"Well, for one, he's from around here. And two, if anyone saw anything weird, he did."

"What makes you say that?" Dean asked.

"Well, I spoke to his mother, and she told me where to find him."

"Wait, can I please come in to see the guy at least?" Shia asked.

"Okay, fine, you'll be my intern," Dean said starting the car.

~••~

And where Max currently spending his days was at Riverfront Psychiatric Hospital. Sam, Dean and Shia had blagged their ways in and were walking through the gardens outside the building with Max, him walking with a slight limp in his step.

"I don't understand," he said as he continued to walk behind them. "I already spoke with Homeland Security."

"Right," Dean answered. "Some new information has come up. So if you could just answer a couple questions…."

"Just before the plane went down, did you notice anything unusual?" Sam asked.

"Like what?" Max questioned.

"Strange lights, weird noises, maybe….voices?" Dean put in.

"No, nothing," Max said, but it wasn't all that convincing.

"Hmm. Mr. Joffey…."

"Jaffey," Max corrected Dean.

"Jaffey. You checked yourself in here, right?" Dean continued. Max nodded. "Can I ask why?"

"I was a little stressed," Maxc said in the same unconvincing tone. "I survived a plane crash."

"Uh-huh. And that's what terrified you? That's what you were afraid of?" Dean said.

"I-I don't wanna talk about this anymore," Max said.

"See, I think maybe you did see somethin' up there. We need to know what."

"No. No, I was delusional—seeing things.," Max said.

"He was seeing things," Dean repeated to Sam and Shia, and both could tell this kid was getting on his nerves already. Shia shrugged at him, thinking that after what Dean had been saying, she had a better chance of getting something out of him.

"It's okay," Shia said, trying to be more comforting that Dean. "Then just tell us what you thought you saw, please."

"There was… this… man," Max finally fessed up. "And, uh, he had these… eyes—these, uh… black eyes. And I saw him—or I thought I saw him…."

"What?" Shia questioned.

"He opened the emergency exit. But that's….that's impossible, right? I mean, I looked it up. There's somethin' like two tons of pressure on that door." And yeah. All three of them knew that was physically impossible… for a human.

"This man," Sam began. "Did he seem to appear and disappear rapidly? It wouldn't look something like a mirage?"

"What are you, nuts?" Max said. 

"He was a passenger. He was sitting right in front of me." The trio exchanged a look. Ok, this guy was human.

Moments later, Sam, Dean and Shia pulled up to what they had found out was George Phelps house. 

"Here we are—George Phelps, seat 20C," Sam said as they pulled up.

"Hmm. Man, I don't care how strong you are," Dean said as the three got out of the car. "Even yoked up on PCP or somethin', no way you can open up an emergency door during a flight."

"Not if you're human," Sam stated. "But maybe this guy, George, was somethin' else—a creature maybe, in human form?"

"That look like a creature's lair to you?" Shia said as she gestured towards the very normal looking suburban house that was George Phelps address. "It's beautiful."

The trio were now in the supposed 'creatures lair', speaking to the late George Phelps' wife. Sam picked up a photo of what he assumed was George, making a conversation starter with his wife. 

"This is your late husband?" Sam said.

"Yes, that was my George," Mrs Phelps replied.

"And you said he was a… dentist?" Dean said somewhat sceptically.

"Mm-hmm," she answered. "He was headed to a convention in Denver. Do you know that he was petrified to fly? For him to go like that…." Her voice trailed off as the tears began to come, which is when the more sensitive of the trio came into play.

"How long were you married?" Shia asked, getting a smile from Mrs. Phelps at her memories of her husband.

"Thirteen years," she said.

"Wow, lucky man," Shia said giving her a smile.

"Oh, thank you. Are you married?"

"Oh, no, but I am currently seeing someone."

"Oh." Mrs. Phelps said. 

"In all that time you were married, did you ever notice anything… strange about him," Sam asked. "Anything out of the ordinary?"

"Well… uh, he had acid reflux, if that's what you mean," Mrs Phelps told them. The three exchanged a look. Not exactly the something strange they had expected.

Getting all the information they could out of Mrs. Phelps, Sam, Dean and Shia left to find a new way to find more.

"I mean, it goes without saying," Sam said as they left. "It just doesn't make any sense."

"Yeah, a middle-aged dentist with an ulcer is not exactly evil personified," Dean said. "You know, what we need to do is get inside that NTSB warehouse, check out the wreckage."

"Okay. But if you're gonna go that route, you better look the part," Shia told the boys. Dean knew exactly what she meant, he hated the idea she had in mind.

~•~

And looking the part meant putting the boys in suits. The two walked out of Mort's For Style, both dressed in very business looking suits.

"Man, I look like one of the Blues Brothers," Dean moaned.

"No, you don't. You look more like a seventh grader at his first dance," Sam corrected.

"I hate this thing," Dean said, glaring at his brother.

"Hey, you want into that warehouse or not?" Sam said. Dean said nothing, which was enough of an answer for his brother. The two walked back to the car where Shia was standing, and seeing the boys walk out. She was loving the idea.

"Damn, babe, seeing you in that suit turns me on," Shia said as they walked up to her.

"Yeah? Well, I should wear things like this more often," Dean said with a smile on his face leaning in to give her a kiss.

"Guys! Can we focus on the case? Please?" Sam asked.

"Oh, you're mad because you never get laid," Dean said, the smile on his face matching Shia's. "Come on," he said as the three climb into the Impala and drove off.

~••~

While the boys checked out the wreckage, Shia was outside waiting or watching out for anything to happen. A black SUV pulled up by the building, men in suits were now walking towards the building.

"Damn it," Shia said as she grabbed her phone to call Dean. "Dean? Get out now!"

The brothers are outside of the warehouse having exited through the back of the building, walking calmly towards the car. Their calm walk turns into a run as alarms blare around them, and they know what for. They realize they'll have to jump the fence. Throwing his suit jacket over the fence, Dean hit the ground first.

"Huh. These monkey suits do come in handy," Dean said as Sam dropped beside him. Grabbing his own jacket, they run back to the car as Shia started the vehicle.

Back at Jerry's office, Sam, Dean and Shia watch as Jerry investigates the substance they brought back with them.

"Huh," Jerry said as he looked up. "This stuff is covered in sulfur."

"I knew that, I'm always right," Shia whispered to Dean, he smiled.

"You're sure?" Sam asked, thinking he knows just what that means.

"Take a look for yourself," Jerry said, the sound of shouting employees in the hallway heard over his voice. "If you guys will excuse me, I have an idiot to fire," Jerry continued as he walked out of the room, shouting out at his employees.

"Hey, Einstein. Yeah, you. What the heck are you doing? Put the wrench down." Letting Jerry leave and continue his yelling, Sam took his place at the microscope, looking into the lens.

"Hmm. You know, there's not too many things that leave behind a sulfuric residue," he said as he pulled up.

"Demonic possession?" Dean questioned, although the answer was clear. "It would explain how a mortal man would have the strength to open up an emergency hatch," Shia answers.

"If the guy was possessed, it's possible."

"Yeah, but this goes way beyond floatin' over a bed or barfin' pea soup," Dean, Mr Look-For-Anything-But-The-Obvious-Answer, pipes up. "I mean, it's one thing to possess a person, but to use 'em to take down an entire airplane?"

"You ever heard of somethin' like this before?" Sam asked the two in front of him.

"Never," Dean answered as Shia shook her head.

~•~

Back at their motel, the trio were researching this demon, searching for any signs this thing might have struck before. Sam sat at his laptop while Dean and Shia laid in their bed reading books about demons.

"So, every religion in every world culture has the concept of demons and demonic possession, right?" Sam said, pulling Dean and Shia's attention back to him as the pair sit up. "I mean, Christian, Native American, Hindu—you name it."

"Yeah, but none of 'em describe anything like this," Dean states.

"Well, that's not exactly true. See, according to Japanese beliefs, certain demons are behind certain disasters, both natural and man-made. One causes earthquakes, another causes disease."

"And this one causes plane crashes?" Shia asked somewhat skeptically. Sam simply shrugged.

"All right, so, what?" Dean added in, climbing off the bed. "We've got a demon that's evolved with the times and found a way to ratchet up the body count?"

"Yeah. You know, who knows how many planes it's brought down before this one?" Sam said. 

Thinking on this and every other piece of information flashing through his brain, Dean turned his back on his little brother and girlfriend, scratching his head.

"What?" Sam and Shia asked in unison, their worry for him and the case showing in their voices.

"I don't know, man. This isn't our normal gig," Dean said, turning back to them. "I mean, demons—they don't want anything, just death and destruction for its own sake. This is big. You know, I wish Dad was here."

"Yeah. Me, too," Sam and Shia said, glancing sadly at Dean then at each other. Breaking the moment, Dean's cell phone began ringing, and Shia grabbed it from the night stand and answered it.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Shia, it's Jerry," Jerry's voice echoed from the other end, his words full of emotion.

"Oh, hey, Jerry," Shia said.

"My pilot friend, Chuck Lambert, is dead," Jerry told her.

"Jerry, I'm so sorry. What happened?"

"He and his buddy went up in a small twin about an hour ago. The plane went down."

"Where'd this happen?"

"About sixty miles west of here, near Nazareth."

"I'll try to ignore the irony in that," Shia said, his mind now replaying the information Sam had just given them.

"I'm sorry?" Jerry asked.

"Nothing. Jerry, hang in there, all right? We'll have a talk with you soon," Shia said as she hung up.

"Another crash?" Sam asked once the call had ended.

"Yeah. Let's go," Shia said, grabbing her jacket and Dean's keys.

"Whoa, you're not driving this time, babe," Dean said grabbing his keys from his girlfriend.

"Where did the plane crash?" Sam asked.

"Nazareth," Shia stated simply. 

Both Sam and Dean smiled half-heartedly at her, them also seeing the irony in this all.

~•~

After speeding down to the wreckage before the NTBS could lock it up in another warehouse, Sam, Dean and Shia made their way back to Jerry with yet more sulphur covered items from the wreckage.

"Sulfur?" Dean asked as Jerry pulled out from the microscope. He nodded.

"Well, that's great," Dean said, turning to Sam and Shia who were sat behind the computer. "All right, so, that's two plane crashes involving Chuck Lambert. This demon sounds like it was after him."

"With all due respect to Chuck, um….if that's the case, that would be the good news," Sam told them.

"What's the bad news?" Dean asked.

"Chuck's plane went down exactly forty minutes into flight," Shia told him. "And get this—so did Flight 2485."

"Forty minutes? What does that mean?" Jerry asked.

"It's biblical numerology," Sam said. 

"On Noah's Ark, it rained for forty days. The number means death."

"I went back," Shia continued. "And there have been six plane crashes over the last decade that all went down exactly forty minutes in."

"Any survivors?" Dean asked.

"No. Or not until now, at least—not until Flight 2485, for some reason."

"On the cockpit voice recorder," Sam cut in. "Remember what the EVP said?"

"'No survivors'," Dean said, to which Sam nodded. "It's goin' after all the survivors. It's tryin' to finish the job," Dean finished dramatically.

Now having a more clearer idea of what this demon wanted, the three where in the car, taking off to find it. Shia sat in the front beside Dean, her cell phone pressed against her ear.

"Really?" Shia said into the phone in an over the top friendly manner. "Well, thank you for taking our survey, and if you do plan to fly, please don't forget your friends at United Britannia Airlines. You have a nice day! Thank you," she said as she hung up.

"All right," she said, shifting in her seat to speak to both brothers. "That takes care of Blaine Sanderson and Dennis Holloway. They're not flyin' anytime soon."

"So, our only wildcard is the flight attendant, Amanda Walker," Dean said.

"Right," Shia said. "Her sister, Karen, said her flight leaves Indianapolis at 8 PM. It's her first night back on the job."

"That sounds like just our luck," Dean said.

"Dean, this is a five-hour drive, man," Sam informed them. "Even with you behind the wheel."

"Why don't you call Amanda's cell phone again," Dean said to Shia. "See if we can't head her off at the pass."

"I've already left her three voice messages," Shia said. "She must have turned her phone off."

"God, we're never gonna make it," Sam said defeatedly.

"Oh, we'll make it," Dean said, stepping on the gas and speeding faster down the road. The random speed adjustment caused Shia to jerk back in her sit.

"Damn it, Dean," Shia said.

"Oh, you'll live," Dean said sending her a small smile.

They just about managed to make it, rushing into the airport and over to the flight schedule screens.

"Right there," Sam said, pointing up at the screen. "They're boarding in thirty minutes."

"Okay. We still have some cards to play. We need to find a phone," Dean said as he moved over to a courtesy phone on the wall beside them.

"Hi. Gate 13," Dean said to the operator on the other side. "I'm trying to contact an Amanda Walker. She's a flight attendant on Flight, um…."

"424," Shia whispered.

"Flight 424," Dean repeated, waiting for Amanda to pick up.  
In another area of the airport, the operators voice rang over the intercom.

"Amanda Walker, Amanda Walker. You have a phone call at the white courtesy phone, Gate 13."

At her gate, Amanda walked up the courtesy phone, just ready to board the plane.

"Come on…." Dean whispered into his side just as Amanda picked up.

"This is Amanda Walker," she said into the phone.

"Miss Walker," Dean continued into the phone. "Hi, this is Dr. James Headfield from St. Francis Memorial Hospital. We have a Karen Walker here."

"Karen?" Amanda said, suddenly worried.

"Nothing serious—just a minor car accident. But she was injured, so…."

"Wait, that's impossible," Amanda said, cutting Dean off. "I just got off the phone with her."

"You what?" Dean said, his story suddenly not working.

"Five minutes ago. She's at her house, cramming for a final. Who is this?"

"Uh, well… there must be some mistake," Dean said, suddenly lost for what to do next.

"And how would you even know I was here?" Amanda said as she paused to think. "Is this one of Vince's friends?"

"Guilty as charged," Dean said, chuckling as he picked up on this new cover story.

"Wow. This is unbelievable."

"He's really sorry."

"Well, you tell him to mind his own business and stay out of my life, okay?"

"Yes, but he really needs to see you tonight, so…."

"No," Amanda cut him off sharply. "I'm sorry. It's too late."

"Don't be like that," Dean said, trying to keep her on the line and off the plane. "Come on, the guy's a mess, really… it's pathetic."

"Really?"

"Oh, yeah."

"Look, I've gotta go. Tell him to call me when I land."

"No, no, wait, Amanda," Dean said as Amanda put the phone down, leaving Dean to shout her name into an unoccupied phone.

"You just had to go with the sister getting in a car accident?" Shia asked Dean, with her arms crossed. 

Dean shrugged, "It was the only thing I could think of." 

Leaving the phone call behind her, Amanda made to board the plane. She walked into the plane, passing under a vent through the platform. A vent from which the black mist seeped out before disappearing quickly back inside.

Back at the entrance to the airport, Dean is suddenly out of ideas.

"Damn it! So close," he said, pacing around the airport.

"All right, it's time for Plan B," Sam said, his own plan forming. "We're getting on that plane."

"Now, just hold on a second," Dean said, definitely not liking this plan.

"Dean, that plane is leaving with over a hundred passengers on board," Sam told his brother. "And if we're right, that plane is gonna crash."

"I know!" Dean said, quite agitated, and Shia suddenly figured just what the problem was.

"We're getting on the plane, we need to find that demon, and exorcise it. Look, I'll get the tickets. You just go and get whatever you can out of the trunk, whatever will make it through security. Meet me back here in five minutes," Sam said, but Dean didn't move.

"Are you okay?" Sam asked.

"No, not really," Dean answered truthfully.

"What? What's wrong?"

"Well, I kind of have this problem with, uh…" he sighed, trailing off.

"Flying," Shia finished for him.

"Flying?" Sam questioned.

"It's never really been an issue until now," Dean told him.

"You're joking, right?" Sam said. Here it was finally. Something his brother was scared of.

"Do I look like I'm joking?' Dean said, and it was clear he wasn't. "Why do you think I drive everywhere, Sam?"

"All right. Uh, we'll go," Shia suggested, knowing just how much her boyfriend hated flying.

"What?" Dean said, immediately not liking Shia's idea. 

"We'll do this one on our own."

"What are you, nuts?" Dean said. "You said it yourself, the plane's gonna crash."

"Look, Dean, the three of us can do it together, or me and Sam can do this one ourselves. I'm not seeing a third option here," Shia said, making out like she was just helping Dean, but really trying to get him on the flight with them. If Dean knew lives were in danger, and that two of those lives were Sam and Shia, he'd go with them.

"Come on! Really?" Dean said, sighing in a defeated manner as it began to work. "Man." Sam left to go get the tickets, Shia used her powers to make the supplies she can carry on the plane appear.

"Dean, everything will be okay. You have me," Shia said giving Dean a hug and a small kiss on his neck. 

"Don't worry so much. Okay? You'll be fine." Dean gave her a smile smile and kiss her lips.

~•~

The plane was now up in the air and Dean's panic hadn't ceased. He sat in almost exactly same position before the plane took off, humming gently as Shia leaned in to try and listen, it sounded familiar to her. Metallica?

"Are you humming Metallica?" she asked.

"It calms me down," Dean stated simply.

"Look, baby, I get you're nervous, okay?" Shia said. "But you've got to stay focused. Try to do that for me."

"Okay," Dean said, but his voice said there was only one thing he was focused on, and it wasn't the demon.

"We've got thirty-two minutes and counting to track this thing down, or whoever it's possessing, anyway, and perform a full-on exorcism," Sam reminded them.

"Yeah, on a crowded plane, that's gonna be easy." Dean said sarcastically.

"Just take it one step at a time, all right? Now, who is it possessing?"

"Well, it's usually gonna be somebody with some sort of weakness, you know," Dean spieled off. "A chink in the armor that the demon can worm through—somebody with an addiction or some sort of emotional distress."

"Well, this is Amanda's first flight after the crash," Sam said. "If I were her, I'd be pretty messed up."

"Mm-hmm," Dean said as a flight attendant walked past them. 

"Excuse me. Are you Amanda?" he asked her.

"No, I'm not," she answered.

"Oh, my mistake," Dean said with a polite smile.

"Mm-hmm," the flight attendant mumbled as she walked away. 

Looking for any other flight attendants, Dean turned to see Amanda stood at the back of the plane by the restrooms.

"All right, well, that's got to be Amanda back there," Dean said as he turned back to Sam and Shia, and they turned to see Amanda. "So… I'll go talk to her and, uh, I'll get a read on her mental state."

"What if she's already possessed?" Sam asked.

"There's ways to test that," Dean said as he reached into his bag and pulled out a bottle of water. "I brought holy water."

"No, I think we can go more subtle," Shia said, snatching the bottle from him. "If she's possessed, she'll flinch at the name of God."

"Oh. Nice," Dean said as he stood to walk away.

"Hey," Sam called back to him.

"What?"

"Say it in Latin."

"I know," he said, beginning to walk away.

"Hey!" Shia called him back again.  
"What?!"

"In Latin, it's 'Cristo'."

"Shia, I know, I'm not an idiot!" he said, this time finally walking away. 

Making his way to Amanda, the plane hits turbulence and begins to jolt. Dean quickly grabbed a hold of the nearest chair, pausing until the plane steadied itself. Gritting his teeth, he thudded the back of the chair as he again made his way to the back of the plane.

"Actually, he is an idiot. He didn't know to say 'Cristo'," Shia said to Sam chuckling about what she just said about Dean.

"Hey, he's your boyfriend," Sam said smiling at Shia.

Dean quickly went back to Sam and Shia, slumping down into his seat.

"All right, well, she's got to be the most well-adjusted person on the planet," he mutter almost angrily as he sat.

"You said 'Cristo'?" Shia asked.

"Yeah."

"And?" Sam continued.

"There's no demon in her. There's no demon getting in her." Dean made Shia giggle by saying that.

"So, if it's on the plane, it can be anyone… anywhere," Sam finished, just as the plane began to rumble and shake almost violently.

"Come on! That can't be normal!" Dean called, gripping tighter to the chair arms.

"Hey, hey, it's just a little turbulence," Shia said comfortingly.

"Shia, this plane is going to crash, okay? So quit treatin' me like I'm friggin' four!" Dean said, turning to her as the plane steadied itself.

"You need to calm down," Shia reiterated. "Stop acting like a child." 

"Well, I'm sorry, I can't!" Dean stated.

"Yes, you can."

"Babe, stow the touchy-feely, self-help yoga crap, it's not helping!"

"Listen, if you're panicked, you're wide open to demonic possession, so you need to calm yourself down right now," Shia reminded Dean. 

Knowing she was right, Dean paused before letting out a slow and hopefully calming breath.

"Good," Shia said with a small smile.

"Now, I found an exorcism in here that I think is gonna work," Sam said, opening his father's journal. 

"The ritual Romano."

"What do we have to do?" Dean asked.

"It's two parts. The first part expels the demon from the victim's body. It makes it manifest, which actually makes it more powerful."

"More powerful?"

"Yeah."

"How?"

"Well, it doesn't need to possess someone anymore. It can just wreak havoc on its own."

"Oh, and why is that a good thing?" Dean asked, shocked at how Sam would think that would help at all.

"Well, because the second part sends the bastard back to hell," Shia finished. "Once and for all."

"First thing's first," Dean said. 

"We've got to find it."

~•~

Knowing exactly who the demon was inside, Sam, Dean and Shia made their way to the opposite end of the plane, heading for the only person who had a slight chance of believing them.

"She's not gonna believe this," Sam said.

"Twelve minutes, dude," Dean reminded them as the three stepped behind the curtain where Amanda was standing.

"Oh, hi. Flight's not too bumpy for you, I hope," Amanda said, noticing Dean.

"Actually, that's kind of what we need to talk to you about," Dean said as Sam closed the curtain behind them.

"Um, okay. What can I do for you?" Amanda asked.

"All right, this is gonna sound nuts, but we just don't have time for the whole 'The truth is out there' speech right now," Dean started off.

"All right, look," Shia said, pushing her way in front of Dean and cutting him off. "We know you were on Flight 2485."

"Who are you guys?" Amanda said, fairly shocked.

"We've spoken to some of the other survivors," Shia carried on, ignoring her question. "We know something brought down that plane, and it wasn't mechanical failure."

"And we need your help because we need to stop it from happening again, here, now," Dean finished.

"I-I'm sorry, I'm very busy," Amanda said as she tried to walk past them, but Den stopped her, taking hold of her arm.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a second. I'm not gonna hurt you, okay?" Dean said as he guided Amanda back into the room and let her go. "But listen to me—the pilot from 2485, Chuck Lambert—he's dead."

"Wait, what? Chuck is dead?" Amanda said, shocked.

"He died in a plane crash," Dean told her. "Now, that's two plane crashes in two months. That doesn't strike you as strange?"

"Look, there was something wrong with 2485," Sam carried on. "Now, maybe you sensed it, and maybe you didn't, but there's something wrong with this flight, too."

"Amanda, you have to believe us," Dean finished. The three watched her expectantly as she struggled with the decision about whether she believed these three or not.

"On… on 2485, there was this man," Amanda began, making her decision. "He… had these eyes."

"Yes, that's exactly what we're talking about," Sam said.

"But I don't understand. What are you asking me to do?" Amanda asked.

"Get the co-pilot," Dean told her. "We need you to bring him back here."

"Why? What does he have to do with anything?"

"Don't have time to explain. We just need to talk to him, okay?"

"But how am I supposed to go into the cockpit and get the co-pilot…."

"Whatever it takes," Sam cut her off "Do whatever it takes. Tell him there's something broken back here. Whatever will get him out of that cockpit."

"Do you know that I could lose my job if…."

"You're gonna lose a lot more than that if you don't help us out," Shia said, now her turn to cut Amanda off. And they all paused, waiting for a response from Amanda.

"Okay," she said, leaving the curtained area. Sam, Dean and Shia watched her walk over to the cockpit and the co-pilot come out. 

After saying whatever she had to him, Amanda and the co-pilot now started walking back towards Sam, Dean and Shia. Pulling back behind the curtain, the trio got ready to perform the on air exorcism, taking out a bottle of holy water and their father's journal. The minute the co-pilot entered the area, Dean punched him, knocking him to the ground and covering his mouth in duct tape. He and Shia then pinned him to the floor as Amanda watched on in horror.

"What are you doing? You said you were just gonna talk to him!" Amanda almost screamed.

"We are gonna talk to him," Dean said as he and Shia tried to keep hold of the wildly thrashing co-pilot. He continued thrashing harder as Sam sprinkled holy water on him, holes burning through his clothes where it hit.

"Oh, my God, what's wrong with him?" Amanda said, beginning to panic at what she was seeing.

"We need you calm,' Sam said, looking up at her. "We need you outside the curtain. Don't let anybody in, okay? Can you do that?" Amanda didn't answer; she just continued to stare at the co-pilot.

"Amanda?" Shia called.

"I don't know! I don't know if I can do that."

"Do you want to die? No? Then I suggest you take your ass, go out there and keep calm! Don't let anyone back here. Now, go!" Shia yelled at Amanda. She was never this rude to people, but at the moment she was sort of irritated.

"Okay. Okay," Amanda said weakly, leaving the area and standing outside the curtain, leaving Sam, Dean and Shia with the possessed co-pilot.

"Hurry up, Sam," Dean said as he and Shia began to have trouble holding down the co-pilot. "I don't know how much longer we can hold him."

Sam began the ritual, reading the Latin from his father's journal. Sensing what was coming, the demon inside the co-pilot began to wrestle harder against Dean and Shia. As the demon became stronger, he knocked the bottle of holy water from Sam's hand before he sent the three flying against the wall. Unfazed, Sam grabbed the journal and continued to read. Without Dean and Shia holding onto him, the co-pilot managed to rip the duct tape from his mouth, grabbing Sam by the front of his shirt.

"I know what happened to your girlfriend!" the demon screamed at Sam, who just stared at him, shocked beyond belief. "She must have died screaming! Even now, she's burning!"

Pulling herself away from the wall after hearing the demons words, Shia kicked the co-pilot across the side of the face, quieting him before he could say anymore to the already distressed Sam. She and Dean restrained the co-pilot again, but Sam didn't move an inch. He was too lost in his thoughts to think of anything, and Shia could see this.

"Sam!" she screamed at him. 

Although under most circumstances, she would have done anything to get him to let out his feelings and make him feel better, now wasn't the time.

Knocked back to reality, Sam picked up the journal and continued to recite the spell in Latin. Once the spell was finished, Sam pushed the journal to one side and helped Dean and Shia hold down the pilot.

"I got him!" Sam called as the co-pilot became to scream and kick out his legs. His legs thrashing, he kicked the journal through the curtain and into the plane. 

Screaming louder, the co-pilots mouth flew open and a black mist tunnels out of his mouth and into the air vents of the plane. With the demon out of him, the co-pilot lay motionless on the floor.

"Where'd it go?" Sam called to the others.

"It's in the plane," Dean answered. 

"We've got to finish it."

"You might want to hurry up!" Shia stated.

As the three stood to retrieve the journal from the plane, the demon took over and the plane began to plummet. While Sam was jerked head first through the curtain and into the plane, Dean and Shia were thrown against the wall.

In the main area of the plane, the passengers were beginning to panic, strapping themselves tightly into their seats. Through the midst of all the chaos, Sam crawled through the seats and reached for the journal.

"Got it!" he called as his hand closed round it. Kneeling in the middle of the aisle, Sam opened the journal and went on to the second part of the exorcism, screaming in Latin as the plane continued to dive.

Behind the curtain, Dean and Shia tried once again to make their way into the plane but were once against stop as the plane jolted violently. They were again thrown into the wall, Dean screaming as he clung to Shia who had her eyes closed and was simply waited for Sam to come through and for the plane to level out. She also would like it if Dean would stop screaming, her ears were about to bleed.

Inside the seating area, chaos still ensues. Papers and objects are flying everywhere as the passengers continue to scream and duck flying objects. Still screaming in Latin, Sam came to the end of the exorcism as a bolt of electrical white light flew from the plane, dispersing the demon.  
With the demon gone, the plane now levelled out and the passengers calmed as the plane began travelling smoothly through the air again. Breathing heavily, Sam stood up as Dean and Shia popped out from behind the curtain, both looking a little shaken. The three exchanged a look, thanking the heavens that the ordeal was finally over.

Back with their car and outside Jerry's airport again, Sam, Dean and Shia stood saying their goodbyes to Jerry.

"Nobody knows what you guys did, but I do. A lot of people could have been killed," Jerry said, shaking each one of their hands. "Your dad's gonna be real proud."

"We'll see you around, Jerry," Sam said as he turned to walk away.

"You know, Jerry?" Dean said, stopping him in his tracks.

"Yeah?" Jerry said, turning to him.

"I meant to ask you—how did you get my cell phone number, anyway? I've only had it for, like, six months."

"Your dad gave it to me," Jerry answered. That simply answer put the three in shock, turning to Jerry and staring open mouthed at him.

"What?" Sam asked.

"When did you talk to him?" Dean asked.

"Well, I didn't exactly talk to him, but I called his number, and his voice message said to give you a call." The three just nodded at Jerry's response, not all that sure of what to say. "Thanks again, guys," Jerry said as he walked away.

Once Jerry was gone, the three left all exchanged a look. Searching for the boy's father, they had just been given their first lead in a long way. A major lead.

Not too long later, Sam, Dean and Shia had parked up just outside the airport and were sat on the trunk of the Impala, Dean dialing their father's number.

"This doesn't make any sense, man," Sam said. "I've called Dad's number, like, fifty times. It's been out of service." Not really paying attention to Sam, Dean put the phone on speaker so the three could listen as their father's voicemail played out.

"This is John Winchester," Their dad's voice rang out. "I can't be reached. If this is an emergency, call my son Dean and his friend Shia, you can reach them at 866-907-3235. They can help."

With the message finished, Dean hung up, all three staring out into space. Near tears, Sam got up and walked back to the car without a word. For so long, they didn't even know if their father was alive. He just had to keep telling himself that at least this was something.

"You know, if his cell phones back in service, maybe we're getting closer," Shia said, trying to be positive. She saw the look in Dean's eyes that she rarely saw. 

Only when they were kids. The look that said he really wasn't sure where to go from here.

"Yeah," Dean answered simply, getting up and walking to the car. Shia grabbed Dean's arm causing him to stop.

"You know we're going to find him, right?" Shia said giving Dean a smile. As a response he smiled back at her getting in his car.

A moment later, Shia was the last to slide into the backseat of the car and the they drove off, their car journey quieter than it ever had been as all three were lost in their own thoughts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tika Sumpter as Shia Singer  
> Terrence J as Julius   
> Idris Elba as Micheal


	6. BLOODY MARY (1x05)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is the myth of Bloody Mary true? That's what the Winchester brothers and Shia trying to figure out. Also, Sam thinks he has a deep dark secret that could attract a supernatural being to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and Comments are welcomed. :)

"Help, I have done it again  
I have been here many times before  
Hurt myself again today  
And, the worst part is there's no-one else to blame  
Be my friend, hold me  
Wrap me up, enfold me  
I am small and needy  
Warm me up and breathe me" – Sia, Breathe Me 

~BLOODY MARY (1x05)~

~January 7, 2006 (approximately 10:05 a.m.) OUTSIDE OF TOLEDO MORGUE~ 

In the car, Sam was being shaken awake by Shia pushing lightly on his shoulders from the back seat.

"Sam wake up," Shia called as Sam slipped back into the land of the living, looking around curiously at his surroundings.

"I take it I was having a nightmare," Sam said simply.

"Yeah, another one," Dean answered.

"Hey, at least I got some sleep," Sam said, trying to joke his way out of actually having to talk about his nightmare. But Dean wasn't having any of it.

"You know, sooner or later we're gonna have to talk about this," he said defiantly. Sam nodded, but didn't acknowledge his statement properly.

"Are we here?" he asked.

"Yup, welcome to Toledo, Ohio," Dean answered. Sam picked up the newspaper from the dashboard, going over the article they had circled. It was an obituary for Steven Shoemaker.

"So what do you think really happened to him?" Sam asked.

"He took a look at this rash on my forehead," Shia said as covered the irritated red spot with her hand. Dean hated when she would get insecure. Does she know she's beautiful?

"I think you're pretty damn hot," Dean said, turning around to give her a kiss. "And to answer your question Sam. No, I don't know what happen to him. That's why were here. Let's go."

~••~

Inside the morgue they had been parked outside, Sam, Dean and Shia walked into room 144. Walking past the absent doctor's desk, Dean looked at the name. Dr D. Feiklowicz. Brilliant! Had to pick the doctor with the unpronounceable name! His own girlfriend couldn't pronounce the name.

"Hey," the morgue tech said as they walked up to his desk.

"Hey," Dean replied.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"Yeah," Dean said. "We're the uh... med students."

"Sorry?" the morgue tech said.

"Oh Doctor… Feiklowicz didn't tell you?" Dean said, hopefully managing to get the name right. "We talked to him on the phone. We uh… We're from Ohio State. He's supposed to show us the Shoemaker corpse. It's for our paper."

"Well I'm sorry, he's at lunch," the morgue tech said.

"Oh well he said uh… Oh well, you know, it doesn't matter. You don't mind showing us the body do you?"

"Sorry, I can't," the morgue tech answered. "Doc will be back in an hour, you can wait for him if you want."

"An hour? Ooh. We gotta be heading back to Columbus by then," Dean said, looking over at Sam and Shia beside him.

"Yeah," Sam said quietly.

"Uh look man, this paper's like half hour grade, so if you don't mind helping us out," Dean said.

"Oh look man," the morgue tech said mockingly. "No."

"I'm gonna hit him in his face I swear," Dean mumbled as he turned away from the morgue tech. Shia had a great idea, she unbutton her shirt to where the top of her breast was showing, then she pulled her hair out of the ponytail it was in so her hair could cover up that ugly spreading rash.

"Hey," Shia said seductively. The morgue tech looked up at Shia and smiled.

"Hello," he said.

"Uh, you see, I have this paper to write and I really need to get it done soon before it's too late. So, if you don't mind...can you take us back there?" Shia asked leaning forward on his desk giving him a wink.

"I want to take you back there, sweetheart, but I don't know if I can," He said staring at Shia's breast. Dean really wanted to punch that guy in the face. Shia turned around and grabbed Dean's wallet from his pocket and pulled out a couple of twenties, she slammed the money in the desk. The morgue tech gave her a smile.

"Follow me," he said, picking up the money and walking away. Sam went to follow, but Dean grabbed Shia's arm before she could walk away, Dean waved at Sam to go on.

"Shia, I earned that money," Dean said.

"Dean, you won it in a poker game," Shia answered truthfully.

"Yeah," Dean said in a so what manner. Shia shook her and turned to walk away, Dean grabbed her arm again.

"What?!" Shia asked annoyed with Dean a little.

"What the hell was that, huh?" Dean asked motioning towards the desk and her shirt. Shia's face softened and she smiled.

"What? Don't tell me you're jealous? I only did it for this job, Dean," Shia said pulling Dean closer, wrapping her arms around his waist. "How many times do I have to tell you that you are my one and only?" Dean gave her a smile before kissing her lips, leaving her breathless.

"Why don't we go back there before they think we disappeared?" Dean said motioning her to go ahead of him, Shia smiled before turning around.

~••~

In the morgue, Sam, Dean, Shia and the morgue tech all stood around the body, covered up for the moment.

"Now the newspaper said his daughter found him," Sam said. "She said his eyes were bleeding."

"More than that. They practically liquefied," the morgue tech said as he pulled back the blanket to reveal Steven Shoemaker, whose eyes were now missing.

"Any sign of a struggle? Maybe somebody did it to him?" Dean said, all three of them hiding grimaces. Even though they saw stuff like this every day, it still wasn't too nice to be around.

"Nope," the morgue tech answered. "Besides the daughter, he was all alone."

"What's the official cause of death?" Sam asked.

"Doc's not sure. Massive stroke, maybe an aneurysm? Something burst up in there, that's for sure."

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

"Intense cerebral bleeding. This guy had more blood in his skull than anyone I've ever seen."

"The eyes—what would cause something like that?"

"Capillaries can burst. See a lot of bloodshot eyes with stroke victims."

"Yeah? You ever see exploding eyeballs?" Shia said.

"That's a first for me, but hey, I'm not the doctor."

"Think we could take a look at that police report?" Dean asked. "You know for, uh… our paper."

"I'm not really supposed to show you that," the morgue tech answered with a sly smile.

"Please, it would really help me," Shia said walking towards him, he looked at her with lust and desire. Shia was disgusted but didn't let her face show it.

"Mmmm. I'm really sorry but I can't do it," He said with a small smile. Shia rolled her eyes and turned around and pulled out her own wallet and took out four twenties, giving it to him. "I'll be right back." He left the room and Shia turned around to the boys with a frown on her face.

"What's wrong," Sam asked her.

"I was going to use that money to get more face cream," Shia pouted. Dean grinned walking towards her and kiss her once again. Sam rolled his eyes.

"Guys, really? In the morgue," Sam said. Dean and Shia burst out in laughter.

~••~

Now that they had got what they wanted from the morgue tech, as well as him getting quite a bit from them, Sam, Dean and Shia were making their way to the car.

"Might not be one of ours," Sam said. "Might just be some freak medical thing."

"How many times in dad's long and varied career has it actually been a freak medical thing and not some sign of an awful supernatural death?" Dean said.

"Uh, almost never," Sam answered, thinking about the answer.

"Exactly," Dean said.

"All right, let's go talk to the daughter. I can put my 'We can be BFFs' game face on," Shia said sarcastically, walking out in front of the boys and putting her back into a ponytail.

Arriving at the daughters house, Sam, Dean and Shia arrived in the middle of the funeral reception. 

Pictures of him were scattered over all the counters, and everyone in the room were wearing either suits for the men of black dresses when it came to the women.

"Feel like we're underdressed," Dean mumbled as they walked through the house.

"Yeah, we're underdressed, but we have to walk like we own the place. We are absolutely flawless! Just fabulous," Shia said dramatically. Sam rolled his eyes playfully while Dean grinned. They were lead to group of girls. All of them looked at Sam and Dean like they were meat and the girls were the hungry lion. Shia shifted on her feet uncomfortably, she noticed that one of the girl were staring at her rash.  

"You must be Donna right?" Dean said as they stepped up to her.

"Yeah," Donna answered.

"Hi uh—we're really sorry," Sam said with true sympathy.

"Thank you," Donna said with a small smile.

"I'm Sam, this is Dean and his girlfriend Shia. Us two," Sam said, indicating himself and Dean. "We worked with your dad."

"You did?" Donna said skeptically.

"Yeah. This whole thing. I mean, a stroke," Dean said.

"I don't think she really wants to talk about this right now," her friend sat beside her, Charlie, said, looking sternly up at Sam, Dean and Shia.

"It's okay. I'm okay," Donna said to her friend.

"Were there any symptoms?" Dean said after a short pause, knowing that Donna was ok with the going on. "Dizziness? Migraines?"

"No," Donna answered.

"That's because it wasn't a stroke," Lily sat from behind Donna, finally turning to the rest of the group.

"Lily, don't say that," Donna said to her little sister.

"What?" Shia asked both Lily and Donna.

"I'm sorry, she's just upset," Donna said.

"No, it happened because of me," Lily said, tears welling up behind her eyes.

"Sweetie, it didn't," her sister told her.

"Lily," Shia said, walking to her and kneeling down to her eye level. "Why would you say something like that?"

"Right before he died, I said it," Lily said almost cryptically.

"You said what, honey?" Shia asked.

"Bloody Mary- Three times in the bathroom mirror," Lily answered, to which Shia looked up to gage Sam and Dean's reactions. "She took his eyes, that's what she does."

"That's not why dad died," Donna said. "This isn't your fault."

"I think your sister's right, Lily," Dean said. "There's no way it could have been Bloody Mary. Your dad didn't say it, did he?"

"No I don't think so," Lily said. Dean smiled down at her, although he made a mental note to look into the theory of Bloody Mary, like he was sure Sam and Shia were.

Now having talked to the daughters, the trio snuck inside the house, and up the stairs. Walking down the same hallway Mr. Shoemaker and his daughter had a couple of nights ago, they made their way to the bathroom. They pushed open the bathroom door, a clear blood stain on the floor.

"The Bloody Mary legend. Damn," Shia said in an almost whisper.

"Dad ever find any evidence that it was a real thing?" Sam asked.

"Not that I know of," Dean said as he and Shia walked into the bathroom. Sam stayed by the door, stooping to the floor to examine the blood stain.

"I mean, everywhere else all over the country, kids will play Bloody Mary, and as far as we know, no one dies from it," Sam said.

"Yeah well maybe everywhere it's just a story but here it's actually happening," Dean suggested.

"The place where the legend began?" Sam asked. Dean merely shrugged his shoulders.

"But according to the legend, the person who says…." Before going on, Sam looked sideways to the mirror of the medicine cabinet. Shia had just opened it and it was now pointing his way. For fear of what might happen, Sam shut the mirror before continuing."The person who says you know what, gets it. But here…."

"Shoemaker gets it instead, yeah," Shia said.

"Right," Sam said.

"Never heard anything like that before."

"Still, the guy did die right in front of the mirror," Dean said. "And the daughter's right. The way the legend goes, 'you know who' scratches your eyes out."

"It's worth checking in to," Shia said. From outside of the bathroom, the three heard the sound of shoes approaching them. Seeing who it was, Sam, Dean and Shia quickly left the bathroom just as Charlie stopped in front of them.

"What are you doing up here?" Charlie asked.

"We… we, had to go to the bathroom," Dean said, clearly the first thing that came to his mind, and earning a glare from Sam and Shia.

"Who are you?" Charlie asked.

"Like we said downstairs, we worked with Donna's dad," Dean said.

"He was a day trader or something, he worked by himself."

"No, I know, I meant…." Dean began to stammer out, just having been caught.

"And all those weird questions downstairs, what was that? So you tell me what's going on, or I start screaming."

"Oh please," Shia said rolling her eyes.

"All right, all right," Sam said, taking over before Dean could come up with another ridiculous lie. "We think something happened to Donna's dad."

"Yeah, a stroke," Charlie said matter-of-factly.

"That's not a sign of a typical stroke, honey," Shia said, pointing towards the blood marked floor.

"We think it might be something else," Sam said.

"Like what?" Charlie asked, still with the questions.

"Honestly? We don't know yet," Sam said. "But we don't want it to happen to anyone else. That's the truth."

"So… If you're gonna scream, go right ahead," Shia told Charlie, who remained quiet.

"Who are you, cops?" she said finally.

"Something like that," Dean said.

"I'll tell you what. Here," Sam said, taking a pen and a small piece of paper from his pocket which he wrote his number on. "If you think of anything, you or your friends notice anything strange, out of the ordinary… just give us a call."

Handing the paper to Charlie, Sam smiled politely before he, Dean and Shia left.

Searching up on Bloody Mary, if that was actually what was haunting this town, Sam, Dean and Shia made their way to the library.

"Say Bloody Mary really is haunting this town," Dean said as they walked to the library entrance. "There's gonna be some sort of proof. Like a local woman who died nasty."

"Yeah but a legend this widespread it's hard," Shia said as they stepped through the library door. "I mean, there's like 50 versions of who she actually is. One story says she's a witch, another says she's a mutilated bride, there's a lot more."

"All right so what are we supposed to be looking for?" Dean asked.

"Every version's got a few things in common," Sam said. "It's always a woman named Mary, and she always dies right in front of a mirror. So we've gotta search local newspapers, public records as far back as they go. See if we can find a Mary who fits the bill."

"Well that sounds annoying."

"No it won't be so bad, as long as we…." Shia began, turning to see that all the computers had 'Out of Order' written across them. "I take it back. This will be very annoying."

~••~

Having to leave the local library, the trio returned to the motel. 

Sam was having another nightmare. Dean and Shia watched him with concern.

"We should wake him," Shia told Dean.

"Nah, he hasn't had much sleep lately," Dean said. Shia nodded as a response.

Gasping for breath, Sam woke up on his bed in the motel room, Dean and Shia looking up from their research as he woke.

"Why'd you let me fall asleep?" Sam asked simply.

"Cause I'm an awesome brother," Dean answered.

"So what did you dream about?" Shia asked.

"Lollipops and candy canes," was the answer Sam gave.

"Really? Must have been a fucked up candyland," Shia said.

"Did you find anything?" Sam asked, trying to draw the conversation away from his dreams.

"Oh besides a whole new level of frustration?" Shia said as Sam sat up. "No. We've looked at everything. A few local women, a Laura and a Catherine committed suicide in front of a mirror, and a giant mirror fell on a guy named Dave, which was oddly entertaining to read about , but uh, no Mary."

"Maybe we just haven't found it yet," Sam said, falling back against the bed.

"We've also been searching for strange deaths in the area," Dean said. "You know… eyeball bleeding, that sort of thing. There's nothing. Whatever's happening here, maybe it just ain't Mary."

Sam sighed, this investigation going nowhere. Just then, Sam's cell phone rang and he pulled it from his pocket, answering it.

"Hello?" he said. As the voice on the other end answered, Sam sat up, a look of concern across his features.

~••~

The caller had been Charlie. The three had just met up with her at a park. Charlie was sat crying, Shia beside her and Dean sat on the back of the bench while Sam stood over them.

"And they found her on the bathroom floor," Charlie said, continuing to tell them Jill's story. "And her… her eyes. They were gone."

"I'm sorry," Sam said.

"And she said it," Charlie continued, causing Dean and Shia to look up at Sam. "I heard her say it. But it couldn't be because of that. I'm insane, right?"

"Trust me, baby girl, you are not insane," Shia said, trying to be comforting.

"Oh God, that makes me feel so much worse," Charlie said as she dropped her head into her hands.

"Look," Sam began, making Charlie look up at him. "We think something's happening here. Something that can't be explained."

"And we're gonna stop it but we could use your help," Dean finished.

There first stop was now Jill's bedroom, the newest crime scene. Charlie walked into the room, closing the door behind her and walking over to the window. Sam, Dean and Shia were knelt beside the window, climbing in as Charlie opened it for them. Sam and Shia entered first, Shia catching the duffle bag that Dean threw her way, laying it on the bed and searching through it.

"What did you tell Jill's mom?" Sam asked as Dean climbed in the window.

"Just that I needed some time alone with Jill's pictures and things," Charlie answered, watching as Shia pulled something out of the bag and Dean closed the curtains. "I hate lying to her."

"Trust us, this is for the greater good," Dean said. "Hit the lights," he told Charlie, and she switched them all off.

"What are you guys looking for?" she asked as she walked back over to them.

"We'll let you know as soon as we find it," Dean answered. Shia switched on the digital camera she had in her hand, checking the image on the screen.

"Hey, night vision," she said to Dean as she held it out to her. Dean flicked a switch and the camera went to night vision.

"Thanks, babe, it's perfect," Shia said, the camera now focused on Dean and he knew it.

"Do I look like Paris Hilton?" he asked, striking a pose. Laughing slightly, Shia walked to Jill's closet with the camera. She opened the door and aimed the camera round the edges of the mirror, searching for something only the night vision could see.

"So I don't get it," Sam said. "I mean… the first victim didn't summon Mary, and the second victim did. How's she choosing them?"

"Beats me," Dean said as Shia closed the closet and moved to Jill's dresser. "I want to know why Jill said it in the first place," Dean said, pointedly turning to Charlie.

"It's just a joke," Charlie answered.

"Yeah well somebody's gonna say it again, it's just a matter of time," Dean said.

Shia was now in the bathroom, aiming the camera round the edges of the bathroom mirror. She stopped at the bottom when the camera caught something. A trickle of something running down from behind the mirror.

"Hey, babe," Shia called from the bathroom, Dean turned to look her way. "There's a black light in the trunk, right?" she asked.

There was, and Dean went to get it while Sam carried the mirror out of the bathroom lying it on the bed in front of Shia as climbed back in the window and threw Shia the black light. Peeling of the brown paper from the back, Shia shone the black light over the back. Under the black light, she found the image of a smudged handprint and a name written beneath it.

"Gary Bryman?" Charlie read off the name.

"You know who that is?" Sam asked.

"No," Charlie answered.

"Well, we have a mystery person I guess," Shia said.

~••~

~January 8, 2006~ 

Following up the Gary Bryman link, it had led them to a small house in town. Dean, Shia and Charlie sat outside while Sam went inside.

"So," Sam said, coming out of the house and stopping beside them. "Gary Bryman was an 8-year-old boy. Two years ago he was killed in a hit and run. The car was described as a black Toyota Camry. But nobody got the plates or saw the driver."

"Oh my God," Charlie mumbled as she heard the car name.

"What?" Sam asked.

"Jill drove that car," she told them.

"We need to get back to your friend Donna's house," Dean said, new theory's beginning to slip into place.

In the bathroom in the Shoemaker house, the trio had pulled the mirror from the bathroom wall and were now hunched over it while Sam shone the black light across the back. They found the same handprint, and another name written across the bottom.

"Linda Shoemaker. Damn, that bastard murdered his wife," Shia said as she read off the name. 

Looking further into this, Sam, Dean and Shia went downstairs to Donna and Charlie and asked about Linda Shoemaker.

"Why are you asking me this?" Donna said.

"Look, we're sorry, but it's important," Shia said.

"Yeah. Linda's my mom okay?" Donna said, answering their questions. "She overdosed on sleeping pills, it was an accident, and that's it. I think you should leave."

"Now Donna, just listen…."

"Get out of my house!" Donna cut in, running up her stairs and not listening at all.

"Oh my God," Charlie said once Donna was gone, turning to the three. "Do you really think her dad could've killed her mom?"

"Maybe," Sam answered.

"I think I should stick around," Charlie said.

"All right. Whatever you do, don't…." But Dean didn't need to finish that sentence.

"Believe me, I won't say it," Charlie told them.

~••~

Back at the motel, Dean sat at the laptop with Shia beside her, Sam wondering round the room and looking through what they already had.

"Wait, wait, wait, you're doing a nationwide search?" Sam asked.

"Yep," Dean said, his concentration still on the computer screen. "The NCIC, the FBI database. At this point any Mary who died in front of a mirror is good enough for me."

"But if she's haunting the town, she should have died in the town," Sam said.

"I'm telling you there's nothing local, we've checked. So unless you got a better idea…." Dean said, trailing off and knowing that he didn't.

"The way Mary's choosing her victims, it seems like there's a pattern," Sam said.

"I know, I was thinking the same thing," Shia said.

"With mister Shoemaker and Jill's hit and run," Sam said.

"Both had secrets where people died," Dean finished for him.

"Right," Sam said. "I mean there's a lot of folklore about mirrors-that they reveal all your lies, all your secrets, that they're a true reflection of your soul, which is why it's bad luck to break them."

"Right, right," Shia said, not noticing that the boy beside them seemed to have found something on the computer, his concentration kicking up a notch. "So maybe if you've got a secret, I mean like a really nasty one where someone died, then Mary sees it, and punishes you for it."

"Whether you're the one that summoned her or not," Sam said.

"Take a look at this," Dean said, letting them know he had fund something. Printing off from the site he had found, Dean printed two pictures. One of a woman lay by a mirror in a pool of blood, and the other of a handprint and the letter 'Tre'.

"Looks like the same handprint," Sam said, comparing it to the pictures they had taken from the mirror's in Jill's and Donna's house.

"Her name was Mary Worthington," Dean told them. "An unsolved murder in Fort Wayne, Indiana."

Finding out what they could on this case from the internet, Sam, Dean and Shia had tracked down the detective who had been on the case, and were now in Fort Wayne, Indiana, grilling the detective about Mary Worthington.

"I was on the job for 35 years," the detective told them. "Detective for most of that. Now everybody packs it in with a few loose ends, but the Mary Worthington murder. That one still gets me."

"What exactly happened?" Dean asked.

"You guys said you were reporters?" the detective said.

"We know Mary was 19, lived by herself," Sam began telling what they had probably thousands of other people who had the internet could easily find out. "We know she won a few local beauty contests, dreamt of getting out of Indiana, being an actress. And we know the night of March 29th someone broke into her apartment and murdered her, cut out her eyes with a knife."

"That's right," the detective said.

"See sir, when we asked you what happened, we wanted to know what you think happened," Dean said. Showing them what he thought happened, the detective led them into another room, pulling out his file on the Mary Worthington case.

"Technically I'm not supposed to have a copy of this," the detective said, opening up the folder to show them the pictures they had already found on the internet.

"Now see that there?" he said, pointing to the picture of the handprint. "T-R-E?"

"Yeah," Dean said.

"I think Mary was trying to spell out the name of her killer."

"You know who it was?" Sam asked.

"Not for sure. But there was a local man, a surgeon. Trevor Sampson," the detective said, pulling out a picture of him. "And I think her cut her up good."

"Now why would he do something like that?" Sam asked.

"Her diary mentioned a man that she was seeing. She called him by his initial, 'T'. Well, her last entry, she was gonna tell 'T' 's wife about their affair."

"Yeah but how do you know it was Sampson who killed her?" Shia asked.

"It's hard to say, but the way her eyes were cut out… it was almost professional."

"But you could never prove it?" Shia said.

"No. No prints, no witnesses. He was meticulous."

"Is he still alive?" Dean asked.

"Nope," the detective said, sitting down with a sigh. "If you ask me, Mary spent her last living moments trying to expose this guy's secret. But she never could."

"Where's she buried?" Sam asked.

"She wasn't. She was cremated," the detective said, and the three inwardly sighed in dismay.

"What about that mirror," Dean said, nodding at the picture. "It's not in some evidence lockup somewhere is it?"

"Ah, no. It was returned to Mary's family a long time ago."

"You have the names of her family by any chance?" Shia asked.

Sam, Dean and Shia were now driving away from Fort Wayne and back to Toledo, Shia on the phone ion the front seat of the car.

"Oh really?" she said into the phone. "Ah that's too bad Mr. Worthington. Me and my husband would have paid a lot for that mirror. Okay, well maybe next time. All right, thanks." She finished as she hung up the phone.

"So?" Dean asked.

"So that was Mary's brother," Shia told the brothers. "The mirror was in the family for years, until he sold it one week ago to a store called Estate Antiques. A little store in Toledo."

"So wherever the mirror goes, that's where Mary goes?" Dean said.

"Her spirit's definitely tied up with it somehow," Sam stated.

"Isn't there an old superstition that says mirrors can capture spirits?" Dean asked.

"Yeah there is," Shia answered. "Yeah, when someone would die in a house people would cover up the mirrors so the ghost wouldn't get trapped."

"So Mary dies in front of a mirror, and it draws in her spirit," Dean stated more than asked.

"Yeah but how could she move through like a hundred different mirrors?" Sam asked.

"I don't know, but if the mirror is the source, I say we find it and smash it."

"Yeah, I don't know, maybe," Sam said. Before Dean or Shia could question his 'maybe', Sam's cell phone rang.

"Hello," he said into the phone. As the voice on the other end spoke, the look of concern came over Sam's face again.

"Charlie?"

~••~

At the motel where Sam, Dean and Shia were staying, they had Charlie sat on the bed, curled in a ball with her head in her knees. Shia sat beside her, watching as the two boys covered all the windows, mirrors, anything with a reflection. Any mirror they couldn't cover, they turned to the wall.

"Hey, hey it's ok," Shia said to Charlie as the boys finished covering the reflections. "Hey, you can open up your eyes Charlie. It's okay, all right?" Charlie did, slowly, as Sam sat on the bed beside Shia.

"Now listen," Shia continued. "You're gonna stay right here on this bed, and you're not gonna look at glass, or anything else that has a reflection, okay? And as long as you do that, she cannot get you."

"But I can't keep that up forever," Charlie said softly. "I'm gonna die, aren't I?"

"No. No. Not anytime soon," Sam said comfortingly as Dean sat on the bed the other side of Charlie.

"All right Charlie. We need to know what happened," he said.

"No, we don't. It's her business, we just know someone got hurt", Shia whispered in Dean's ear. Dean gave her a look and ignored her.

"We were in the bathroom. Donna said it," Charlie said.

"That's not what we're talking about," Dean said. "Something happened, didn't it? In your life… a secret… where someone got hurt. Can you tell us about it?" Charlie paused for a minute, looking round at the three in the room with her. Shia rolled her eyes at Dean, she didn't agree with them asking about her personal life.

"I had this boyfriend," Charlie began eventually. "I loved him. But he kind of scared me too, you know? And one night, at his house, we got in this fight. Then I broke up with him, and he got upset, and he said he needed me and he loved me, and he said 'Charlie, if you walk out that door right now, I'm gonna kill myself.' And you know what I said?" As her memories came flooding out, Charlie's voice began to break as the tears came with it.

"I said "Go ahead"," she continued. "And I left. How could I say that? How could I leave him like that? I just… I didn't believe him, you know? I should have." The tears escape and she dropped her heads into her knees again, sobbing softly.

"Honey, listen to me. That wasn't your fault. Okay? It was his choice," Shia said as she rubbed Charlie's back comforting her.

~••~

Leaving Charlie in the reflection free room, Sam, Dean and Shia were now driving down to the store to get rid of Mary.

"You know her boyfriend killing himself, that's not really Charlie's fault," Dean said.

"Oh, I know," Shia said. Dean knew she was still pissed about him ignoring her about making Charlie spill her little secret, she didn't see a reason for them to know. Mary was after her and that's all they needed to know.

"You know as well as I do spirits don't exactly see shades of gray, Dean," Sam said, his focus on staring blankly out of the window. "Charlie had a secret, someone died, that's good enough for Mary."

"I guess," Dean said.

"You know, I've been thinking. It might not be enough to just smash that mirror," Sam told them.

"Why, what do you mean?" Shia said, leaning forward in the back seat.

"Well Mary's hard to pin down, right?" he told them. "I mean she moves around from mirror to mirror so who's to say that she's not just gonna keep hiding in them forever? So maybe we should try to pin her down, you know, summon her to her mirror and then smash it."

"Well how do you know that's going to work?" Shia asked.

"I don't, not for sure," Sam said.

"Well who's gonna summon her?" Shia asked.

"I will. She'll come after me," Sam said blankly.

"You know what, that's it," Dean said as he roughly pulled the car over, causing Shia to be pushed back into her seat again. 

"Dammit, Dean," she mumbled. 

"This is about Jessica, isn't it?" Dean said once the car had been pulled to a stop. "You think that's your dirty little secret? That you killed her somehow? Sam, this has got to stop, man. I mean, the nightmares and calling her name out in the middle of the night, it's gonna kill you."

"Listen to me," Shia said, leaning forward again. "It wasn't your fault. If you wanna blame something, then blame the thing that killed her."

"Or hell, why don't you take a swing at me?" Dean cut in. "I mean I'm the one that dragged you away from her in the first place."

"I don't blame you," Sam said quickly.

"Well you shouldn't blame yourself, because there's nothing you could've done."

"I could've warned her," Sam said, and the edge in his voice told Shia there was more to the story than they knew.

"About what?" Dean said, trying to keep his anger in check. "You didn't know what was gonna happen! And besides, all of this isn't a secret, I mean we know all about it. It's not gonna work with Mary anyway."

"No you don't," Sam said quietly.

"We don't what?"

"You guys don't know all about it. I haven't told you everything," Sam said, proving Shia's thoughts right.

"What are you talking about?" Dean said.

"Well it wouldn't really be a secret if I told you, would it?" Sam said, and all Dean could do was stare in shock and surprise.

"No," Dean said after a minute. "I don't like it. It's not gonna happen, forget it."

"Dean, that girl back there is going to die unless we do something about it," Sam told his brother, his voice now adamant. "And you know what? Who knows how many more people are gonna die after that? Now we're doing this. You've got to let me do this."

Dean and Shia having been forced to give in, Sam was now trying to pick the lock outside of the antiques shop. The door successfully opened and the trio walked in only to be confronted with a shop full of antique mirrors.

"Well… that's just great," Shia said. Dean pulled out the picture of Mary's body lying beside the mirror, showing it to Sam and Shia so they knew what they were looking for.

"All right let's start looking," Dean said as they walked off in separate directions, Sam going one way, Shia and Dean the other. What they failed to notice was the small flashing light, signaling they had tripped the silent alarm.

"Maybe they've already sold it," Dean said as their search came up with nothing. While in the other side of the shop, Sam's flashlight came to rest ion the mirror in question.

"I don't think so," Sam called to Dean and Shia. They stepped up behind him, Dean taking out the picture of the mirror to make a comparison.

"That's it," Dean said, sighing heavily at what he knew was coming next.

"You sure about this?" Shia asked. In answer, Sam simply handed her the flashlight and heaved his own sigh before he turned to the mirror.

"Bloody Mary. Bloody Mary," Sam began, glancing over at Dean and Shia before he finished to find them both staring at him with an unsure look. Sam held his crowbar higher before he finished, ready to smash the mirror the minute Mary entered it.

"Bloody Mary," he finished.

Before Mary could appear in the mirror, they were distracted as a light flowed in through the store windows, Dean and Shia turning to it.

"We'll go check that out," Dean said. "Stay here."

"Be careful, Sam. I mean it," Shia said as they walked away. Being careful, Sam held a tighter grip on the crowbar.

"Smash anything that moves," Dean said as he and Shia cautiously rounded the corner. They found the source of the light outside the store. Car headlights.

"Crap," Dean muttered. Thinking that maybe the crowbar in Dean's hand looked a little too guilty, Shia took it from him and slid it down the back of a chest of drawers before she and Dean walked towards the door.

~••~

Outside of the shop, Dean and Shia found that the headlights belonged to a police car.

"Hold it," one of the officers now stood in front of Dean and Shia said.

"Whoa guys, false alarm," Shia said, raising her hands in a sign of surrender.

"We tripped the system," Dean finished.

"Who are you?" the officer asked.

"I'm the boss's kid, this is my wife," Dean answered.

"You're Mister Yamashiro's kid?" the officer asked.

Dean and Shia were still trying to explain their presence to the cops.

"Like I said, I was adopted," Dean said.

"Yeah," one cop said as the two cornered Dean and Shia, coming in closely from both sides. Dean looked over at him, who simply shrugged slightly at him, knowing just what he was gonna do.

"You know, we just—we really don't have time for this right now," Dean said. Getting rid of the cops the easy way to them, Dean and Shia went for the uniforms closest to them. Moving in quick motion, Shia elbowed her cop in the face and kicked his feet from under him, while Dean punched and backhanded his cop, both falling to the floor.

"Not bad," Dean said, looking over at Shia.

"You know me. Never saw the hype for authority figures," Shia said with a smile as she turned back towards the shop, Dean following.

Inside the shop and Sam was still struggling against his reflection.

"You never told her the truth. Who you really were," Sam's reflection said as Sam continued falling closer to the ground.

"But it's more than that, isn't it?" the reflection continued. "Those nightmares you've been having of Jessica dying, screaming, burning—You had them for days before she died. Didn't you!? You were so desperate to ignore them, to believe they were just dreams. How could you ignore them like that? How could you leave her alone to die!? You dreamt it would happen!"

Before his reflection could say any more, Dean and Shia came running into the room, Shia smashing the crowbar through Mary's mirror. Sam remained still on the floor, and Shia knelt down beside him, making him look at her.

"Sam, Sammy! Are you alright?!" Shia called to him.

"It's Sam," Sam said weakly. Smiling with relief, Shia pulled Sam forward and kissed his forehead. Pulling back, Shia saw the blood trickling down Sam's eyes.

"God, are you really okay?" she said, the concern never leaving her voice.

"Uh, yeah," Sam said. Smiling at him again, Shia gently touched Sam's cheek as he smiled back at her. Shia put her forehead against his.

Standing a little away from them, Dean watched the two of them together. It was times like this when it really hit him how close his girlfriend and baby brother were. He had never seen Shia worry about anyone as much as she did for Sam. They were two of a kind those two, always the ones with the information. So much in common. In the little moments of tenderness like this, he could see how much she cared about him.

And he knew Sam cared about her. He knew deep down that if it wasn't for Shia, Sam probably wouldn't have come on the hunt in the first place. When they had first pulled Sam away from college, Shia had gotten a much warmer welcome then he had. And he had expected that. Of all the people, Sam chose to keep in contact with Shia. He knew there was a bond between Sam and Shia he could never break or get into.

Pushing his thoughts aside, Dean moved closer to Sam and Shia.

"Come on, come on," Dean said as he and Shia helped Sam to his feet. Swinging his arms over their shoulders, they began to slowly walk out of the store. But what they didn't see behind them was Mary, crawling out of her frame. As the sound of glass cracking met their ears, the three turned to see Mary walking towards them. All three fell to the floor as blood began trickling from their eyes, Mary now extremely pissed.

Thinking fast, Dean weakly reached across and pulled a Mary in front of them, Mary now forced to look at her own reflection.

"You killed them!" her reflection echoed. "All those people! You killed them!"

Like all her victims before her, Mary began to choke, falling towards the ground. Before she could hit the floor, her body melted away, leaving a pile of blood where she stood. Dean threw the mirror forward, shattering it as it fell.

"Hey guys?" Dean said to the two beside him.

"Yeah?" Sam answered.

"This has got to be like… what? 600 years of bad luck?" Dean said. Sam and Shia chuckled weakly as Shia wiped some of the blood from her face.

~January 9, 2006 (approximately 6:47 a.m.)~

The next morning, Sam, Dean and Shia drove Charlie back to her house.

"So this is really over?" Charlie asked.

"Yeah, it's over," Dean said with a nod.

"Thank you," Charlie said softly to the three. Dean reached back and shook her hand gently as she stepped out of the car and began walking back to her house.

"Charlie?" Sam called to her, and she turned round."Your boyfriend's death… you really should try to forgive yourself. No matter what you did, you probably couldn't have stopped it. Sometimes bad things just happen."

Charlie smiled faintly as she turned back towards her house. Shia pulled forward in the back, leaning against Sam's spot in the passenger seat. 

"That's good advice," she said softly into his ear. Sam smiled weakly as Shia sat back and Dean drove off.

"Hey Sam?" Dean said once they had been driving for a few minutes.

"Yeah?" Sam answered.

"Now that this is all over, I want you to tell us what that secret is," Dean said.

"Look… you guys are my family and I'd die for either you," Sam said truthfully. "But there are some things I need to keep to myself."

Turning away from Dean and Shia, Sam held his attention on the street passing him by through the window. And the first thing that caught his eyes was Jessica, standing on the corner of the street in a white dress. Sam tried to keep his eyes on her, but as they turned the corner, she vanished. Sam continued to stare out of the window, wondering what had just happened. Had he really just seen Jessica, or was it his mind? The thought of his dead girlfriend was all that dominated his mind as they continued to drive.

~January 10, 2006 (approximately 7:34 p.m.)~

After a days worth of driving, they finally decided to stop at a motel, Shia noticed that something was bothering Dean. Instead of bombarding him with questions in front of his little brother, Shia wanted a little time with her boyfriend.

"Sam, why don't you take the impala and go get some supplies for me from the grocery store. Please?" Shia asked as she gave him a list. Sam left as Dean came from out of the bathroom.

"Where did Sam go?" Dean asked walking over to Shia sitting beside her on the bed.

"Oh, I sent him to the store for a bit. I just thought we needed sometime together," Shia said. Dean recognized the small glint in her eyes before she said another word. "What's going on in that mind of yours?" 

Dean sighed, averting his gaze anywhere else but at Shia. "Nothing." 

"Don't give me that "nothing" bullshit. I know you, Dean Winchester. Look, I may not be your first choice when it comes to talking about your feelings—"

"It's not like that, Shy. I just..." 

Shia scooted closer to her man, looping her arm through his just as she rested her head on his shoulder. "I get it, Dean. But I do want you to talk to me. I care about you...more ways than one. I'm your girl." Shia was now staring into Dean's eyes. "I don't want this relationship to be a physical thing all the time. I want to be intimate in ways such as communication." 

Dean nodded, really listening to what his woman had to say. "Okay. I know. It's going to be a minute for me, alright? But I do care about you...a lot." 

Shia gave him a small smile before kissing his lips. "I know." 

"Show me." Shia whispered seductively in Dean's ear. She felt that if they wouldn't get to talk, might as well take advantage of the alone time they have while they can. 

Dean looked at her before leaning in, planting his soft lips against hers, moving in a slow motion. The kiss deepened as she moved closer to him, looping her slim fingers through his short dirty blonde hair. 

Dean's hands roamed her body. Squeezing the soft skin that laid against his fingers. 

Not wanting to waste too much time, Shia took his shirt off and started to kiss his neck; biting his skin gently, hoping to leave a mark there by the morning. Feeling the sensation his lady was giving him, Dean moaned. His fingers finding his way to her bra, undoing it just to have it fall off her arms. 

Usually, the undressing part of their intimate time would be a longer process but realizing they were on a time stamp, they undressed in a hurry. 

Dean laid his girl on the bed, his hand grasping on her thighs, admiring the thickness of them. There were so many things Dean thought that was beautiful about his lady. Her thighs, her legs, her smile, her lips, but most importantly her heart. It was his favorite feature. Shia spread her legs, making sure Dean had enough room to fit between them. 

And he did, Dean slowly led his rather large groin inside of Shia's wet core. The sensation of her tightness and warmth overwhelmed the veins in Dean's body. 

"You okay, babe?" Shia asked, noticing the moment Dean tensed up for a second. 

"You're so amazing." Dean said before kissing her lips once more as he started to find his rhythm. 

Shia moaned loudly, moving her hips against Dean, joining in with his pace. The feels sent Dean wild. She knew just how to rouse him up. Dean grabbed her by her left thigh, placing that one leg over his shoulder so he could pace himself deeper inside of her.

The reaction he got was the one he wanted. 

"Dean.." Shia said, repeating his name with each thrust. "Dean.." 

"You like that, don't you?" 

"Don't stop." 

Dean continued his pace, hitting the greatest spot her body offered. It almost never took Dean long to find her G-spot and once he did, things are super heated in the bedroom for him. 

"Babe..." Dean said, signalling to the fact that he was about to come to his finish. Shia pressed her lips against his once more. 

"Me too, babe." Shia moaned, grasping on to Dean's short hair. 

Moments later the couple hit their climax. Shia laid her head on Dean's chest before wrapping her leg around his hips. 

"Dean, I love you," Shia said breathlessly. Dean smiled at her as he placed a small kiss on her forehead. 

"We should get dress before Sam gets back," Dean said grabbing his shirt.

"Yeah, we should," Shia said heading to the bathroom. Dean smiled as he watched her leave. She was so beautiful.

In more ways than one.


	7. HOOKMAN (1x07)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The hunting trio take on another urban legend. Shia and Dean have relationship problems.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and Comments are welcomed! :)

"I don't like the way he's looking at you  
I'm starting to think you want him too  
Am I crazy? Have I lost ya?  
Even though I know you love me, can't help it" – Nick Jonas, Jealous.

~HOOKMAN (1x07)~ 

~January 19, 2006 (approximately 10:54 a.m.)~

At an outdoor café, Dean and Shia are sat at the table with coffees and the open laptop, waiting for Sam, who was on a nearby payphone.

"Wait, so, you mean to tell me that when I was with Bobby, helping him with a job, you guys went to St. Louis and ran into a shape shifter...then it turned into you and now the cops are blaming you for all the murders?" Shia asked trying to process this story in.

"Yeah, when you put it that way...," Dean said to Shia taking a sip out of his drink.

"Hmm, that's pretty badass. I always had a soft spot for bad boys," Shia said as she put her hand on Dean's thigh. Dean looked down to where her hand was.

"Are you trying to seduce me?" Dean asked with a small smile playing on his lips.

"Depends, would you want to be seduced?" Shia whispered in Dean's ear.

"Okay, we will be getting our own room the next time we stay at a motel," Dean said sending Shia a wink, which made her giggle.

"Alright, thank you for your time," Sam said as he hung up and headed back to the table.

"Your, uh, half-caf, double vanilla latte is gettin' cold over here, Francis," Dean said as he approached, looking over Shia's shoulder at the computer screen.

"Bite me," Sam said, taking a seat.

"So, anything?" Dean asked, referring to the phone call Sam had just made. Sam shook his head in answer.

"I had 'em check the FBI's Missing Persons Data Bank. No John Doe's fitting Dad's description. I even ran his plates for traffic violations."

"Sam, I'm tellin' ya, I don't think Dad wants to be found," Dean said. Sam said nothing, just gave him a disappointed look.

"Check this out," Shia said, changing the subject and turning the laptop to Sam. It showed the article on a college student, known as Rich, timing of death.

"It's a news item out of Planes Courier," she said. "Ankeny, Iowa. It's only about a hundred miles from here."

" 'The mutilated body was found near the victim's car, parked on 9 Mile Road,' " Sam read from the article.

"Keep reading," Shia urged on. And he did.

" 'Authorities are unable to provide a realistic description of the killer. The sole eyewitness, whose name has been withheld, is quoted as saying the attacker was invisible.' "

"Could be something interesting," Shia said once he finished.

"Or it could be nothing at all," Sam said. "One freaked out witness who didn't see anything? Doesn't mean it's the Invisible Man."

"But what if it is? Dad would check it out," Dean finished, giving Sam a look saying he knew he was right himself.

~•~

Taking on the case, Sam, Dean and Shia drove to the fraternity where Rich had lived. Sam and Dean got out of the car, not paying attention to the fact that Shia was prepping herself up by putting on lipstick, and pushing her bra up to make her boobs look bigger. 

"One more time, why are we here?" Sam asked.

"Victim lived here," Dean said simply, turning to his girlfriend to find she wasn't beside him instead she was looking at herself in a small mirror liking what she sees.

"Oh, would you come on," Dean said, turning to his girlfriend.

"I'm liking this style, babe. I should wear things like this more often, don't you think?" Shia said as she walked over to her boyfriend. Dean simply smiled at her.

"You can wear things like this in the bedroom, I wouldn't mind undressing you," Dean replied, Sam cleared his throat.

"Guys, again, enough with the flirting. I would like to keep my food down," Sam said as Shia and Dean laughed a bit. They all turned to walk away until Shia stopped them.

"Wait, are you sure this outfit doesn't make me look fat?" Shia asked nervously. For a moment Dean thought she wouldn't be insecure about her outfit, but he was wrong. She was showing a lot of brown skin in the low cut top and mini skirt she was wearing. She stood in front of Dean, turning around so they could get a good look. Dean simply smiled, definitely liking what he was seeing.

"You look fine, baby," Dean said making Shia smile, taking her round the waist, Dean walked Shia up towards the dorm, Sam following them.

"Nice wheels," Dean said as they stopped in front of a group guys who were working on a car. They all turned to the trio, looking at them strangely.

"We're your fraternity brothers," Dean continued. "From Ohio. We're new in town. Transfers. Looking for a place to stay."

He grinned widely as he watched the guys give Shia the once over. She smiled sweetly. She was the type of girl who sometimes marveled over guys looking at her like this. Looking like this was the only way she was getting in as well, and she had no problems with that.

The boys, and Shia, were showed into the fraternity house and their new dorm room. There they found a shirtless frat boy in yellow shorts who was painting his body purple. With a strange look on their faces, they knocked on the door, catching the boy's attention.

"Who are you?" he asked as he turned to them.

"We're your new roommates," Dean answered, striding into the room with Shia at his side.

"Who's the babe?" he said smiling towards Shia.

"My girlfriend," Dean stated, taking this on board, the boy held the paint tin and brush out to Dean.

"Do me a favor?" he asked. "Get my back. Big game today."

"He's the artist," Dean said, pointing to Sam. "Things he can do with a brush."

With a mortified look on his face, Sam took the brush and can from the boy. Smiling, Dean flopped into a chair, tugging Shia onto his lap and picking up a magazine.

"So… Murph," Dean said, looking at the name on the magazine. "Is it true?"

"What?" he asked.

"We heard one of the guys around here got killed last week," Dean said.

"Yeah," Murph said, his voice dropping slightly.

"What happened?" Sam asked, speaking up for the first time.

"They're saying some psycho with a knife," he answered. "Maybe a drifter passing through. Rich was a good guy."

"Rich, he was with somebody?" Sam asked.

"Not just somebody. Lori Sorensen."

"Who's Lori Sorensen?" Dean asked before turning to Sam. "You missed a spot. Just down there. On the back."

Sam just glared at him, an annoyed look on his face, while Dean and Shia grinned, Shia trying to hold back laughter.

"Lori's a freshman," Murph said in answer to Dean's earlier question. "She's a local. Super hot. And get this: she's a reverend's daughter."

"You wouldn't happen to know which church, would ya?" Dean asked.

Murph did in fact know what church. And right now, the service for Rich was in full flow.

"Our hearts go out to the family of a young man who perished," Lori's father, Reverend Sorensen was saying. "And my personal prayers of thanks go out as well because I believe he died trying to protect my daughter."

He turned to his daughter with a small smile. She just lowered her eyes, embarrassed.

"And now," he continued. "As time heals all our wounds, we should reflect on what this tragedy means. To us, as a church."

During his sermon, Sam, Dean and Shia, now back in her normal clothes, walked into the church. The door slammed behind Sam, the last of the three to walk in. the whole congregation, including Dean and Shia, went silent and turned to him.

"As a community, and as a family," the reverend continued, bringing the congregations attention back to him. "The loss of a young person is particularly tragic. A life unlived is the saddest of passings."

Sam, Dean and Shia took a seat at the back of the church, now being as quiet as possible. As they sat, Lori turned to them, and Sam smiled weakly at her.

"So, please, let us pray," Reverend Sorensen said. "For peace, for guidance, and for the power to protect our children."

The whole church bowed their heads in prayer, even Sam and Shia. All but Dean. Noticing this, Shia elbowed him in the side, motioning round the room. Seeing he was the only one still with his head up, Dean too bowed his head.

Once the mass had ended, the church populace made their way outside, chatting away in small groups. Lori and Taylor were part of this crowd, making their way out of the church.

"I can't," Lori said to her friend. "It's Sunday night."

"It's just us girls," Taylor told her. "We're gonna do tequila shots and watch Reality Bites."

"My dad makes dinner every Sunday night," Lori said.

"Come on, Lori. I know this has been hard, but you are allowed to have fun."

"I'll try." Was Lori's answer, to which Taylor rolled her eyes.

"Ok," Taylor said, pulling her friend into a hug. She backed away, mouthing the words 'You Better' as she left. Sam, Dean and Shia took her place, stepping g up beside her.

"Are you Lori?" Sam asked.

"Yeah," Lori said as she turned to them.

"My name is Sam. This is my brother, Dean, and his girlfriend Shia."

"Hi," Dean and Shia said together, waving slightly.

"We just transferred here to the university," Sam continued.

"I saw you inside," Lori said matter-of-factly.

"We don't wanna bother you," Sam said. "We just heard about what happened and..."

"We wanted to say how sorry we were," Dean finished.

"I kind of know what you're going through," Sam told her. "I… I saw someone… get hurt once. It's something you don't forget." Lori nodded slightly as her father walked up to them.

"Dad," Lori said, turning to him. "Um, this is Sam, Dean and Shia. They're new students."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir," Dean said as he shook the reverends hand. "I must say, that was an inspiring sermon."

"Thank you very much," the reverend said. "It's so nice to find young people who are open to the Lord's message." Dean chuckled slightly as Shia stepped forward with Dean's hand in hers.

"Um, me and boyfriend recently got engaged and we're looking for a church to have the wedding in," Shia said as she and Dean led the reverend away. "And we were hoping in you could help us out."

They moved the reverend away from his daughter, leaving Sam and Lori to talk in private.

"Tell me, Lori. What are the police saying?" Sam asked as they began walking in the opposite direction.

"Well, they don't have a lot to go on. I think they blame me for that," Lori said.

"What do you mean?"

"My story. I was so scared, I guess I was 'seeing things'," Lori said as they stopped walking.

"That doesn't mean it wasn't real," Sam said as the two held each other's gaze for a few seconds.

~•~

With what little they knew, the three made their way to the library, walking through the stacks.

"So you believe her?" Dean asked.

"I do," Sam said.

"Yeah, I think she's hot, too," Dean said off-handedly, earning himself a smack across the back of the head.

"Do you want a girlfriend?" Shia asked crossing her arms.

"I have a girlfriend," Dean said confusingly.

"Not if you keep talking like that," Shia said turning away from him. Dean wrapped his arms around hugging her from behind giving her soft kisses on the neck.

"No, man, there's something in her eyes," Sam said ignoring the conversation between Dean and Shia. "And listen to this: she heard scratching on the roof. Found the bloody body suspended upside down over the car."

"Wait, the body suspended?" Shia said, clicking on to what Sam was getting at. "That sounds like the…."

"Yeah, I know, the Hook Man legend," Sam said, filling in the blanks.

"That's one of the most famous urban legends ever," Shia said. "You don't think that we're dealing with the Hook Man."

"Every urban legend has a source. A place where it all began."

"Yeah, but what about the phantom scratches and the tire punctures and the invisible killer?" Dean said, for once being the level-headed one.

"Well, maybe the Hook Man isn't a man at all," Sam said. "What if it's some kind of spirit?"

Now sat at a table in the back of the library, Sam, Dean and Shia sat back while a librarian placed boxes in front of them.

"Here you go. Arrest records going back to 1851," she told them as Dean blew dust from the box, coughing as it came back in his face.

"Thanks," Shia said to the woman with a friendly smile.

"Ok," she said as she walked away.

"Oh my God, Dean, I want her shoes," Shia whined motioning towards the librarian's shoes.

"I'll take you to a store later," Dean said before giving her a quick kiss.

"Thank you," she said smiling at him. Dean turned to Sam.

"So, this is how you spent four good years of your life, huh?" Dean said.

"Welcome to higher education," Sam said as he opened one of the boxes. Dean and Shia followed suit with the other box, the three now reading through the contents of them. Hours later, and they were still there, a very bored Dean and Shia almost falling asleep.

"Hey, check this out," Sam said, knocking Dean and Shia back to reality. "1862. A preacher named Jacob Karns was arrested for murder. Looks like he was so angry over the red light district in town that one night he killed 13 prostitutes. Uh, right here, 'some of the deceased were found in their bed, sheets soaked with blood. Others suspended upside down from the limbs of trees as a warning against sins of the flesh.' "

"Sick bastard," Shia said.

"Get this, the murder weapon?" Dean said, turning to another page. "Looks like the preacher lost his hand in an accident. Had it replaced with a silver hook."

"Look where all this happened," Shia said, pointing to another page.

"9 Mile Road," Dean read.

"Same place where the frat boy was killed," Sam said.

"Nice job, Dr. Venkmen. Let's check it out," Dean said, slapping Sam on the back as he gathered the research and the three left.

Up at 9 Mile Road, Sam, Dean and Shia had just pulled up and were rummaging round in the trunk.

"Here you go," Dean said, handing Sam a rifle.

"If it is a spirit, buckshot won't do much good," Sam said.

"Yeah, rock salt," Dean said, handing the rounds to him.

"Huh. Salt being a spirit deterrent."

"Yeah," Dean said, taking out a coil of rope and closing the trunk. "It won't kill 'em. But it'll slow 'em down."

"That's pretty good," Sam said as they walked towards the trees. "You guys and Dad think of this?"

"No, Shia did, but you don't have to be a college graduate to be a genius," Dean said. They were stopped in their tracks as they heard a noise in the trees in front of them. Sam instinctively rose the shotgun, fanning around for the location of the sound.

"Over there. Over there," Shia said, pointing towards the trees. Sam cocked the gun and aimed in that direction, watching as a figure walked towards them.

"Put the gun down now!" the figure yelled, who appeared to be the sheriff with his own gun. "Now! Put your hands behind your head."

"W-w-wait, okay, okay!" Dean called out.

"Now get down on your knees. Come on, do it! On your knees!" The three obliged, getting on their knees as Sam dropped the shotgun. "Now get down on your bellies. Come on, do it!"

"He had the gun!" Dean moaned out as they did, lying on their stomachs.

Up at the sheriff's department, Sam, Dean and Shia are finally leaving after spending the night trying to get Sam off the hook.

"Saved your ass!" Dean exclaimed as they walked out. "Talked the sheriff down to a fine. Dude, I am Matlock."

"But how?" Sam asked.

"We told him you were a dumbass pledge and that we were hazing you."

"What about the shotgun?"

"We said that you were hunting ghosts and the spirits were repelled by rock salt," Shia filled in. "You know, typical Hell Week prank."

"And he believed you?" Sam said.

"Well, you look like a dumbass pledge," Dean said blatantly as they walked up to the car. Just then, the officers who they had spent the night persuading ran from the building, into their cars and sped away. Sam, Dean and Shia exchanged a look. Most definitely something bigger going on.

~•~

And the big event was that at Lori's sorority. Police and ambulance were parked everywhere, and the impala joined them as it drove by. The occupants watched Lori as she sat in the back of an ambulance, wrapped in a blanket, before driving off round the building.

Also watching his daughter, Reverend Sorensen was stood talking to the sheriff.

"I just want to take her home," he said almost pleadingly.

"I understand that, Reverend," the sheriff told him. "But Lori's now connected to two murders, and I can't ignore that."

"Listen to me. Arrest her now, or let me take her home." The sheriff thought about this for a minute, turning to Lori.

"Make sure she's available for questioning," the sheriff said eventually.

"Thank you," she said, walking over to his daughter. "Sweetheart, you ready to go home?"

Without a word, Lori stood up and let her father guide her away. Round the back of the building, Sam, Dean and Shia parked up on the street and made their way to the back of the sorority.

"Why would the Hook Man come here?" Sam said. "This is a long way from 9 Mile Road."

"Maybe he's not haunting the scene of his crime," Dean suggested. "Maybe it's about something else."

While they were talking, a pair of sorority girls came out of the building, intrigued by the commotion outside. Sam, Dean and Shia lean up against the side of the building, hiding amongst some bushes to avoid being seen.

"Dude, sorority girls!" Dean said almost playfully. "Think we'll see a naked pillow fight?"

Shia thumped Dean on the arm, bringing his attention to Sam trying to climb onto the balcony. Dean helped him up, then Shia, then joined them himself. They crept over to Lori's window, climbing through in the same order. Dean ungracefully fell through the window, landing equally ungracefully on top of his girlfriend.

"Oh, sorry!" Dean muttered. Shia got up without saying a word. 

"Be quiet," Sam hissed at him.

"Me be quiet? You be quiet!" Dean retorted.

"Both of you be quiet!" Shia hissed back at both of them. They were now in Lori's walk-in closet. Sam opened up the door and watched as the sheriff leaves the room, closing the door behind him. Only then did Sam, Dean and Shia step into the room, seeing the blood, the police tape, and the writing on the wall.

" 'Aren't you glad you didn't turn on the light?' " Sam said, reading off the wall. "That's right out of the legend."

"Yeah, that's classic Hook Man all right. It's definitely a spirit," he said, tapping the end of his noise to indicate the smell around them that the police hadn't picked up on as more than the normal smell of a dead body.

"Yeah, I've never smelled ozone this strong before," Shia said, agreeing with him as he moved to the window.

"Hey, come here," Sam said, his eyes still on the wall. Dean walked over to stand beside him and Shia.

"Does that look familiar to you?" he asked, indicating the cross symbol below the writing.

Dean and Shia did in fact recognize the symbol. They figured where from as they sat on the hood of the car, going over the research they already had on Reverend Jacob Karns.

"It's the same symbol," Sam said, pointing to the symbol of the cross that was etched into the hook the reverend had for a hand. "Seems like it is the spirit of Jacob Karns."

"All right, let's find the dude's grave, salt and burn the bones, and put him down," Dean said as Sam read over the research.

" 'After execution, Jacob Karns was laid to rest in an Old North Cemetery. In an unmarked grave,' " Sam read off to them, the information clearly annoying his brother and best friend as much as it was him.

"Super," Shia said sarcastically, thinking just how long it was actually gonna take them to get this seemingly simple job finished.

"Ok. So we know it's Jacob Karns," Sam said. "But we still don't know where he'll manifest next. Or why."

"I'll take a wild guess about why," Dean said as the three moved to get back into the car. "I think your little friend Lori has something to do with this."

Looking for new information, Sam picked possible the worst place to bring Dean. A college party. While Sam stood in the middle of the room, the goings on around him not of any matter to him, Dean and Shia walked towards him, Dean with a look on his face like Christmas had come early.

"Hey," Sam said as they stopped in front of him.

"Man, you've been holding out on me," Dean said, his excitement showing in his voice. "This college thing is awesome!" He winked and smiled slyly at a passing girl. He tensed slightly, expected the usual smack from Shia. Instead she glared at him, and the look told him that he was in trouble later.

"This wasn't really my experience," Sam told him.

"Let me guess. Libraries, studying, straight A's?" Dean said. Sam just nodded. "What a geek."

"Just because he stayed focus on school work doesn't make him a geek, I would totally date geek. That way I wouldn't worry about jerky jocks who flirt with almost every girl," Shia said looking at Dean. Yeah, she was upset with him.

"Babe, that was noth-," Dean started to say.

"I don't want to hear it," Shia said looking away from him. Dean knew he had to make it up to her soon or she'll be angry all week. "Sam, you do your homework?"

"Yeah," Sam said, finally getting excited about something. "It was bugging me, right? So how is the Hook Man tied up with Lori? So I think I came up with something."

He unravelled a large and very old looking piece of paper, showing it to Dean and Shia.

"1932. Clergyman arrested for murder," Dean read off. "1967. Seminarian held in hippie rampage."

"There's a pattern here," Sam said. "In both cases, the suspect was a man of religion who openly preached against immorality. And then found himself wanted for killings he claimed were the work of an invisible force. Killings carried out, get this, with a sharp instrument."

"What's the connection to Lori?" Dean asked.

"A man of religion? Who openly preaches against immorality?" Sam told them, making it seem like it was obvious. And what Sam really was getting at hit them before he continued. "Except maybe this time, instead of saving the whole town, he's just trying to save his only daughter."

"Reverend Sorensen," Dean filled in the blanks. "You think he's summoning the spirit?"

"Maybe," Sam said.

"Or you know how a poltergeist can haunt a person instead of a place?" Shia reminded them.

"Yeah," Dean said. "The spirit latches onto the reverend's repressed emotions, feeds off them, yeah, okay."

"Without the reverend ever even knowing it," Shia finished.

"Either way, you two should keep an eye on Lori tonight," Dean told Sam.

"What about you?" Sam asked with a nod. Dean attention was momentarily caught by an attractive blonde girl smiling at him from beside the pool table.

"I'm gonna go see if we can find that unmarked grave. You think you two gonna be alright," Dean asked. Just then a very attractive guy walk past Shia.

"Hey," the guy said sending Shia a wink. Dean noticed that Shia was blushing, he stood beside Shia and wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Hey," Dean answered for Shia, she giggle at Dean being randomly protective. "On second thought, Sammy, why don't you stay here and keep an eye on Lori?" Sam nodded as Dean dragged Shia with him.

Despite her almost desperate want to stay at that party, Shia was now searching through the graveyard with Dean, the only light the flashlight beam in front of them. The silence of the night was suddenly disturbed as a twig broke behind them. Jumping round, Shia gripped onto Dean's arm. Dean laughed slightly at the hunter beside him who had the spooks so suddenly.

"All the things we've seen and you're still scared of a cemetery," Dean said to her.

"Just shut up and let's find this thing quickly, I want to go back to the party and flirt with that hot guy. You know, since apparently this relationship isn't monogamous," Shia snapped out at him. They stopped walking for a second and Dean turned to her.

"Babe, I'm sorry," Dean said looking down at Shia.

"That's the problem. You're always sorry. You always look and flirt with other girls like I'm not in front of you, and I'm sick of it! I'm serious when I say if you keep this up then you really won't have a girlfriend anymore," Shia said breaking at the end of her last sentence. Dean looked at her and saw all the hurt and pain he's been causing her, she looked at the ground. Dean lifted her chin up with his fingers wanting her to look at him.

"I'm sorry, I really am. I hate when you're mad at me. The whole flirting thing comes natural for me and I'm sorry. I'm not good at this whole relationship thing, but I'm trying. If we weren't together, I don't know what I'd do," Dean said giving her a soft kiss on her lips.

"Okay. Enough with the chick flick moment. Let's go find the body," Shia said giving him a small smile.

They did just that, walking through the headstones. Despite trying to put on a brave front, Shia still had a vice like grip on Dean's arm. The flashlights beam finally fell across a gravestone with the familiar cross pattern engraved into it.

"Here we go," Dean said as they walked towards it.

The reverends grave had almost been dug up, thanks to Dean. Shia knelt beside the open grave, watching but not helping.

"That's it," Dean said, breathless and his t-shirt sticking to him. "Next time, I get to watch the cute girl's house." This earned him a light tap across the head with Shia foot, drawing his attention to her.

"What did we just talk about?" Shia asked with her arms crossed.

"You know, this would go a lot quicker if you helped," Dean said.

"I'm the girl of the group remember, and I got my nails done for this job...I wouldn't want to get them dirty," Shia said, smiling at the guy who was glaring at her. "Besides digging graves is a mans job." Shia heard Dean mumble the word 'Bitch', so she kicked some of the dirt back in the grave. Dean sent her a dirty look.

"Ah, my bad," Shia said. Dean rolled his eyes and continued digging.

"Hello, preacher," Dean said, throwing his shovel aside, and Shia could swear he aimed at her.

~•~

The next morning, Sam stood outside a hospital room, watching through the window as Lori stood beside her father's bed. The sheriff stood beside him, questioning on the events of last night.

"We were just talking," Sam said. "Then Lori's dad came out. And then he appeared."

"A big man?" the sheriff said. "Carrying a weapon, some kind of hook?"

"Yes, sir."

"Ever seen him before?"

"No, sir."

"Son, it seems every time I turn around, I'm seeing you. I suggest you try to stay out of trouble."

"Yes, sir," Sam said with a nod. His attention was drawn by his brother voice as he saw him and Shia trying to get past two officers.

"No, it's alright, we're with him. He's my brother," Dean was telling the officers before turning to Sam. "Hey! Brother!" He and Shia smiled and waved brightly to Sam.

"Let them through," the sheriff said and the officers stepped aside, letting them passed.

"Thanks," Dean said in the politest tone he could as the sheriff walked away and they made their way to Sam. Shia rushed forward, hugging him fiercely.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yeah," Sam replied as he laced his own arms round her waist hugging her back.

"What the hell happened?" Dean asked.

"Hook Man," Sam said simply as he pulled away from Shia.

"You saw him?" Dean said.

"Damn right. Why didn't you torch the bones?"

"What are you talking about, we did," Shia said. "You sure it's the spirit of Jacob Karns?"

"It sure as hell looked like him. And that's not all. I don't think the spirit is latching on to the reverend."

"Well, yeah, the guy wouldn't send the Hook Man after himself," Dean said.

"I think it's latching onto Lori," Sam told the two confused looking people in front of him. "Last night she found out her father is having an affair with a married woman."

"So what?" Dean said.

"So she's upset about it. She's upset about the immorality of it," Sam said, trying to make them understand his point. "She told me she was raised to believe that if you do something wrong, you get punished."

"Ok, so she's conflicted," Dean said. "And the spirit of Preacher Karns is latching on to repress the emotions and maybe he's doing the punishing for her, huh?"

"Right. Rich comes on too strong, Taylor tries to make her into a party girl, Dad has an affair."

"Remind me not to piss this girl off," Shia said in all honesty.

"But we burned those bones, we buried them in salt," Dean said. "Why didn't that stop him?"

"You must have missed something."

"No," Shia said. "We burned everything in that coffin."

"Did you get the hook?"

"The hook?" Dean said, the confusion in his voice matching that on Shia's face.

"Well, it was the murder weapon, and in a way, it was part of him."

"So, like the bones, the hook is a source of his power," Dean said.

"So if we find the hook..." Sam began.

"We stop the Hook Man," the three finished together with a smile.

~•~

Back at the library, the trio were no looking for where the hook might be, not the preacher.

"Here's something, I think," Dean said. "Log book, Iowa State Penitentiary. Karns, Jacob. Personal affects: disposition thereof."

"Does it mention the hook?" Sam said.

"Yeah, maybe," Dean said as he continued to read. "Upon execution, all earthly items shall be remanded to the prisoner's house of worship, St. Barnabas Church."

"Isn't that where Lori's father preaches?" Shia said.

"Yeah," Dean answered.

"Where Lori lives?" Sam said.

"Maybe that's why the Hook Man has been haunting reverends and reverends' daughters for the past 200 years," Dean said.

"Yeah, but if the hook were at the church or Lori's house, don't you think someone might've seen it?" Sam said. "I mean, a bloodstained, silver-handled hook?"

"Check the church records," Shia suggested. And that's what they did. It was of an hour before Shia came up with the answer.

"St. Barnabas donations, 1862," Shia read off. "Received silver-handled hook from state penitentiary. Reforged." With a heavy sigh, she closed the book.

"They melted it down. Made it into something else." And they were now no closer to finishing this.

Taking their chances, the three had parked up outside the church, stood beside Impala.

"Alright, we can't take any chances," Dean said. "Anything silver goes in the fire."

"I agree," Sam said. "So, Lori's still at the hospital. We'll have to break in."

"Alright, take your pick," Shia said, motioning towards the church and the house.

"I'll take the house," Sam said.

"Ok," Dean said, watching as Sam walked away. "Hey," he said, making Sam turn again.

"Stay out of her underwear drawer," he said, which only earned him a glare before he turned to walk away again. Shia giggled at Dean's comment.

In the church basement, Dean and Shia stood throwing all the silver items they had found into the fire. They turned to the sound of footfalls as Sam came running down the stairs with a bag.

"I got everything that even looked silver," Sam said.

"Better safe than sorry," Shia said as they began throwing the new stuff on the fire. The sound of footfalls met their ears again, but this time everyone they thought was in the church was down here.

"Move, move," Dean said as he motioned Sam and Shia up the stairs, him following with his gun drawn. Upstairs, pushing the door open cautiously, they found the new occupant was Lori, sat crying alone in a pew, crying.

Putting the gun away, Dean motioned for Sam to go over to her while he and Shia went back into the basement. Sam moved quietly into the main church, stepping up beside her.

"Lori?" he said softly.

"What are you doing here?" she asked as she turned to him.

"What is it?" Sam asked, ignoring her question and kneeling beside her.

"I've been trying to understand what's been happening," Lori told him. "Why? Now I know so I'm praying for forgiveness."

"Forgiveness for what?"

"Don't you see? I'm to blame for all this. I've read in the Bible about avenging angels."

"Trust me, this guy—he's no angel," Sam said, trying to comfort her.

"I was so angry at my father," Lori said, ignoring his comment. "Part of me wanted him punished. And then he came and he punished him."

"It's not your fault."

"Yes, it is. I don't know how, but it is. I killed Rich. Taylor, too. I nearly killed my father."

"Lori..."

"I can see it now," she cut in. "They didn't deserve to be punished. I do."

At her final statement, Sam's attention was drawn to a noise from the back of the church. He watched as the candles extinguished, a slow breeze blowing through them.

"Come on. We gotta go," Sam said, bringing her to her feet. He led her towards the basement door but before he could open it, the hook man's hook came crashing through the wood, inches away from their heads.

"Go!" Sam screamed, running down the aisle with Lori close behind him. They ran into the back room, the hook man close behind them, smashing through the glass on the door Sam had just closed. Standing protectively in front of Lori, Sam let the hook man swing at him a couple of times, dodging each swing. But as he turned to run, his attention on Lori, the hook man swung again, this time catching Sam across the shoulder. He screamed out in pain, unable to do anything as an invisible force pulled Lori back across the floor.

"Come on. You okay?" Sam called out as he ran to Lori, stopping beside her. Before he could help her to her feet, the hook man appeared and knocked Sam backwards. Getting to his feet, Sam pulled himself up behind the hook man. Before he could attack, Dean and Shia ran round the corner, Dean with his gun drawn.

"Sam, drop!" Dean yelled. Sam did, crouching to the ground as Dean shot the hook man, watching as he disappeared.

"I thought we got all the silver," Sam yelled from his position beside Lori.

"So did I," Shia yelled back.

"Then why is he still here?"

"Well, maybe we missed something!" Dean yelled. It was then that Sam turned to Lori, noticing the silver cross necklace round her neck.

"Lori, where did you get that chain?" Sam asked.

"My father gave it to me," she answered.

"Where'd your dad get it?" Dean asked.

"He said it was a church heirloom, he gave it to me when I started school."

"Is it silver?!" Sam asked the pivotal question.

"Yes!" Lori called back to him. At her answer, Sam ripped the chain from her neck. The hook man decided to make himself known again then, a long scratch mark being drawn down the wall by an invisible someone as Dean and Shia turned to watch it getting closer.

"Sam!" Shia called as she turned back round, motioning for Sam to throw her the necklace. He did as Dean threw him the rifle and rock salt. While Sam shot at his invisible target, Dean and Shia ran to the basement to throw the last silver object onto the fire.

Sam tried to reload the gun against his wounded shoulder but was stopped in his attempts as the hook man knocked the rifle from his hand. With nothing else to do but wait for his brother and best friend to come through, Sam and Lori crawled away from their attacker, backing against the wall as he towered over them.

As the necklace began to melt in the furnace below, the hook man stopped, his hook raised in the air. The first thing to melt away was his hook, the rest of his body burning into nothing. As the hook man disappeared for good, Dean and Shia run into the room. The trio share a knowing look. At last, this was over.

~•~

Daylight breaking, police cars and ambulances were now parked outside the church, the sheriff taking Dean and Shia's statement.

"And you saw him, too? The man with the hook?" the sheriff asked.

"Yes, I told you, we all saw him," Dean said. "We fought him off and then he ran."

"And that's all?" the sheriff asked in a disbelieving tone.

"Yeah, that's all," Shia said.

"Listen. You two and your brother…."

"Oh, don't worry, we're leaving town," Dean said, cutting off the guys sentence before he could say the inevitable. They walked to the car, waiting for Sam who was at the ambulance, getting his arm bandaged up with Lori watching over him.

"You gonna be okay?" Lori asked.

"Yeah," Sam answered, standing up.

"I still don't know what happened," Lori said. "But I do know you saved my life. My father's, too. Thank you."

All Sam gave was a simple nod and a smile as he turned to leave, heading back to the car where Dean was watching him through the mirror. Leaning forward from the back seat, Shia prodded Dean lightly in the back of the head.

"Stop it," she said. One look at her face and Dean knew what she meant. It wasn't the watching, but the interfering into his baby brother's life. With a sigh, Dean faced the front as Sam climbed into the car.

"We could stay," Dean said, knowing, despite Shia's warnings, the only way his brother would do anything would be with his interfering. But all Sam did was shake his head. Watching Lori through the mirror, Dean could clearly saw the disappointed look on his face. Shaking his own head in disappointment, Dean drove away, leaving the latest link in their chain behind, and ready to make a new one as they drove to their next destination.

~January 22, 2006 (approximately 7:43 p.m.)~ 

Several hours later, the trio stopped at a motel. Dean ordered a room for him and Shia leaving Sam a room for himself. Shia put her bag on the floor as she got herself ready for bed.

"So, we're not going to talk about this," Dean asked walking toward Shia.

"Talk about what?" Shia asked looking at Dean.

"You know...us...why we're always fighting about the same things," Dean said as he sat down on the bed.

"There's nothing to talk about Dean."

"Yes, there is! I can't just sit here knowing that you're hurting. What can I do to make you believe how much I care about you? I don't hurt you intentionally, I never mean to hurt you," Dean said as he looked her in the eyes. 

Shia smiled and leaned in to kiss him. Dean deepen the kiss by pulling her closer, Shia took the opportunity to lay him on the bed so she could straddle his waist. 

The whole night was spent living in sinful bliss. Dean was always better at showing Shia how he felt rather than telling her.


	8. BUGS (1x08)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and Comments are welcomed :)

"God, make me another one  
I'll be feeling this tomorrow  
Lord, forgive me for the things I've done  
I was never meant to hurt no one" –Ed Sheeran, Bloodstream. 

~"BUGS" (1x08)~ 

~March 18, 2006 (approximately 10:42 p.m.)~

At a tavern somewhere outside of Oklahoma, Sam laid against the hood of the Impala, reading a newspaper as he waited for his brother and friend. They had been in there for ages now, getting money their way, while Sam opted to wait outside. And that had paid off. The article he was reading now had the headline 'Local Death: A Medical Mystery'.

The sound of laughter catching his ears, Sam looked up to see Dean and Shia walking out of the tavern, Dean counting a load of cash.

"You know, we could get day jobs once in a while," Sam said, sitting up.

"Hunting's our day job," Dean said with a smile.

"And the pay is crap," Shia finished for him as he counted the money in his hand.

"Yeah, but hustling pool? Credit card scams?" Sam said, clearly disapproving of how the pair in front of him chose to get their income. "Not the most honest thing in the world, guys."

"Well, lets see. Honest... Fun and easy," Dean said, holding his hands out either side of him. Mimicking weighing scales, his weight and his mind went towards the hand with the money and the easy option. "It's no contest. Beside, we're good at it. It's what we were raised to do."

"Well, how we were raised was jacked," Sam said.

"Yeah, says you," Dean replied, counting the money in his hands. "We got a new gig or what?" Sam jumps off the car as Dean nods to the paper in his hands.

"Maybe. Oasis planes, Oklahoma. Not far from here. A gas company employee," Sam said, throwing the newspaper onto the hood of the car for Dean and Shia to see. "Dustin Burwash supposedly died from Cruetzfeldt-Jakob."

"Huh?" Dean said, confusion written on his face.

"Human mad cow disease," Shia clarified for him.

"Mad cow. Wasn't that on Oprah?" Dean said.

"You watch Oprah?" Sam said as he and Shia stared at Dean, their expressions laced with amusement they were having trouble hiding. Dean hesitated, suddenly embarrassed and wishing he hadn't said a thing.

"So this guy eats a bad burger," Dean said, trying to change the subject. "Why is it our kind of thing?"

"Mad cow disease causes massive brain degeneration," Sam said, taking pity on his brother and getting back to business. "It takes months, even years, for the damage to appear. But this guy Dustin, sounds like his brain disintegrated in about an hour. Maybe less."

"Ok. That's weird," Dean said.

"Yeah. Now, it could be a disease. Or it could be something much nastier."

"All right. Oklahoma," Dean said as the trio hopped back into the car. "Man. Work, work, work. No time to spend my money."

"Your money? I'm pretty sure I helped," Shia said climbing in the front seat to sit between the two brothers.

"Okay, our money," Dean said sending his girlfriend a wink. 

~SPN~

Sam, Dean and Shia pulled up outside of Oklahoma Gas & Power, stepping out of the car and walking up to Travis, who was standing beside his van.

"Travis Weaver?" Sam said as the trio walked up to him.

"Yeah, that's right," Travis said as he turned to them.

"Are you the Travis who worked with Uncle Dusty?" Dean said.

"Dustin never mentioned nephews. Especially a nephew with a girlfriend," Travis said with a confused look, but the look went away when he saw Shia...then he noticed that Dean was holding her hand. 

"Really?" Dean said with a bright smile. "Well, he sure mentioned you. He said you were the greatest."

"Yeah," Sam agreed with him, keeping up the story.

"Oh, he did?" Travis said, seeming somewhat proud of the fact.

"Listen, we wanted to ask you, what exactly happened out there?" Dean asked, getting right to the point.

"I'm not sure," Travis told them, the smile fading. "He fell in the sinkhole. I went to the truck to get some rope, and by the time I got back..." His voice trailed off, not wanting to remember what he saw at that construction site.

"What did you see?" Dean asked, needing to get the answer.

"Nothing. Just Dustin," Travis said.

"No wounds or anything?" Sam said.

"Well, he was bleeding from his eyes and his ears, his nose," Travis told them. "That's it."

"So you think it could be this whole mad cow thing?" Dean asked.

"I don't know. That's what the doctors are saying."

"But if it was, he would've acted strange beforehand like dementia, loss of motor control," Sam said. "You ever notice anything like that?"

"No. No way. But then again if it wasn't some disease, what the hell was it?"

"That's a good question," Dean muttered.

"You know, can you tell us where this happened?" Shia asked, knowing they weren't gonna get anymore out of Travis.

"Yeah," Travis told them.

~SPN~

Going on the directions Travis had given them, the trio drove into Oasis Planes, pulling up beside the sinkhole Dustin had fallen down and getting out of the car.

"Huh. What do you think?" Dean asked as they ducked beneath the tape surrounding the area.

"I don't know," Sam said. "But if that guy Travis was right, it happened pretty damn fast."

"So, what, some sort of creature chewed on his brain?"

"No, there'd be an entry wound," Shia said. "Sounds like this thing worked from the inside."

"Looks like there's only room for one," Dean said, aiming the flashlight down the hole.

"Good luck boys because I'm not going down there," Shia said, knowing exactly what he was getting at. No way was she going down a small, dark hole.

"You wanna flip a coin?" Dean said to his brother as the three stood up. Dean walked over to a length of piping nearby.

"Dean, we have no idea what's down there," Sam said.

"All right. I'll go if you're scared," Dean said, walking back over to them. "Scared?"

"Flip the damn coin," Sam said, not all the pleased about being accused of being scared. Dean laughed as he pulled a coin from his pocket.

"All right, call it in the air, chicken," Dean said, flipping the coin. Sam snatched it out of the air before it could hit Dean's hand again.

"I'm going," Sam stated.

"I said I'd go," Dean said, smiling slightly.

"I'm going," Sam repeated more adamantly, taking the piping from his brother and tying it round his waist.

"All right," Dean said, stepping back and taking the other side of the piping.

"Sam, honey, be careful," Shia said as she watching him get ready to go down the hole.

"Don't let him drop me," Sam said to his best friend as she moved to him, helping him tie the piping tighter round his waist, making sure herself that he wasn't dropped.

~SPN~

Sam had gone down the sinkhole, and had not been dropped by either his brother or Shia, and he was now sat in the passenger seat of the car, flicking a small, dead beetle he had found down there across the palm of his hand.

"So you found some beetles," Shia said, leaning forward from the backseat. "In a hole in the ground. That's shocking, Sam."

"There were no tunnels," Sam said, defending his actions. "No tracks, no evidence of any other kind of creature down there. You know, some beetles do eat meat. It's usually dead meat, but…."

"How many did you find down there?" Dean asked.

"Ten."

"It'd take a whole lot more than that to eat out some dude's brain," Dean said.

"Well, maybe there were more," Sam said, still defending his actions and his thoughts.

"I don't know. Sounds like a stretch to me," Dean said.

"Well, we need more information on the area, the neighborhood, whether something like this has ever happened before," Sam said. And an idea came to Dean's mind as he noticed a sign flashing past the window as they drove.

"What?" Sam asked, noticing his brother's attention was elsewhere.

"I know a good place to start," Dean said. Sam and Shia's attention went the same way Dean's was, and they saw an advertisement sign for a barbeque.

"I'm kind of hungry for a little barbeque, how about you?" Dean finished with a smile, getting a look from Shia. "What, we can't talk to the locals?" Again, the look from Shia, knowing there was more to it then that.

"And the free foods got nothing to do with it?" Shia asked.

"Of course not. I'm a professional."

"Right," Shia said, totally not believing him as Dean pulled up to a nearby curb. Still, Sam and Shia followed him out of the car and towards the house.

"Growing up in a place like this would freak me out," Dean said, looking round at their surroundings.

"Why?" Sam asked, clearly shocked at his brothers statement.

"The manicured lawns, 'How was your day, honey'? I'd blow my brains out."

"There's nothing wrong with normal," Sam said, this clearly being the kind of life he would lead.

"I'd take your family over normal any day," Shia said, stepping back a little to look around at Dean, and probably hers too, idea of hell. Sam and Dean continued towards the house, knocking on the front door. A few seconds later, the door was opened and a middle aged man stood in front of them, smiling brightly.

"Welcome," he said.

"Is this the barbeque?" Dean said, his smile just as wide.

"Yeah. Not the best weather, but…." He trailed off as he held his hand out to the brothers. "I'm Larry Pike, the developer here. And you are…?" he introduced himself.

"Dean. This is Sam," Dean introduced them both. He turned to introduce Shia, only to find her still on the edge of the lawn, looking round at the houses and slowly making her way towards the boys.

"Sam, Dean," Larry said, drawing Dean's attention back to him. "Good to meet you. So you two are interested in Oasis Plains?"

"Yes, sir," Dean said, a little overly friendly.

"Let me just say, we accept homeowners of any race, religion, color… or sexual orientation." At his comment all Dean could do is stare while Sam stood there, trying not to laugh. Both, for a moment, were stuck on what to say.

"We're brothers," Dean eventually said, reaching behind him and hoping Shia was now close enough. She was, and he pulled her tightly into his side.

"Shia. My wife," he said matter-of-factly. Smiling brightly at the man she was being introduced, Shia wriggled slightly in Dean's tight embrace, his hands digging almost painfully into her sides.

"Our father is getting on in years," Sam continued to explain. "We're just looking for a place for him."

"Great. Great. Well, seniors are welcome too. Come on in," Larry said as he walked back into the house, Sam, Dean and a slightly confused Shia following.

"Wife? You could have said girlfriend," Shia whispered to Dean.

"Are you complaining?" Dean asked.

"No, it just caught me by surprise."

~SPN~

Sam, Dean and Shia followed Larry through the house and into the backyard, smiling and feigning interest at what Larry was telling them.

"You said you were the developer?" Sam asked, continuing with his questioning and knowing it wouldn't be hard to get answers out of this guy. Very long and drawn out answers. Shia got bored very easily, so she decided to tease Dean by giving him a slight pinch on the bum. Dean jumped slightly by surprise and send Shia a look. Shia gave him a small smile and a wink as she mouthed the words 'Later'. 

"Eighteen months ago," Larry continued. "I was walking this valley with my survey team. There was nothing here but scrub brush and squirrels. And you know what, we built such a nice place to live that I actually bought into it myself. This is our house. We're the first family in Oasis Plains."

Walking them through the garden as he spoke, Larry now stood beside a middle-aged blonde woman with a friendly face and smile.

"This is my wife, Joanie," Larry introduced the blonde woman.

"Hi there," Joanie said, offering her hand to Sam, Dean, and Shia.

"Hi," Dean said, taking her offered hand.

"Hi. Nice to meet you," Joanie said again, turning her attention and hand to Sam.

"Sam, Dean, and his wife Shia," Larry said, introducing them.

"Pleasure," Joanie said.

"Tell them how much you love the place, honey," Larry said to his wife. "And lie if you have to because I need to sell some houses."

"Right," Joanie said with a smile.

"Now, if you'll excuse me," Larry said, walking away from the trio and his wife. 

"Don't let his salesman routine scare you," Joanie said when she had all three of their attention. "This really is a great place to live." Joanie smiled as another woman with a beaming put on smile and wearing a business suit quickly walked up beside them. Shia wiggled out of Dean's grip to grab a plate of potato chips, she was so hungry. She left the table to stand next to Dean again. 

"Hi, I'm Lynda Bloom, head of sales," she said, introducing herself to what she saw as potential buyers.

"And Lynda was second to move in. She's a very noisy neighbour, though," Joanie told the boys as she walked away and Lynda let out a burst of false laughter.

"She's kidding, of course," Lynda clarified. "I take it you three are interested in becoming homeowners."

"Well…." Dean stuttered out.

"Yeah, well…." Sam also stuttered.

"Well, let me just say that we accept homeowners of any race, religion, color, or sexual beliefs," Lynda said, coming up with a different assumption as Larry had. What the hell did she think was going on? 

"This is my husband," Shia said motioning to Dean. Lynda smiled at the couple. "This is Sam, my brother in law, we were looking for a house to start in." 

"Oh, well, houses out here are perfect for raising families. Do you plan on having children?" Lynda asked with a friendly smile. 

"Yes, we are," Dean said. Shia gave him a surprised look. "We're thinking about having a couple. Right, honey?" Dean asked Shia, she sent Lynda a quick nod. 

"Well, I think you two are a lovely couple," Lynda said to them. 

"Thank you," Dean said through his smile. "We're gonna go talk to Larry. Ok, Sam?" Turning to walk away, Shia lightly tapped Sam on the bum, causing Sam to jump slightly. Sam turned and watched as Dean and Shia made their way back to the house.

~SPN~

With his brother and Shia gone, Sam turned back to Lynda, smiling falsely and mentally cursing his brother for the situation he had just put him in.

~SPN~

Inside the house, Dean and Shia are being shown round the house by Larry.

"Now, houses like this are perfect for big families. I assume you lovely couple will be considering that soon?" Larry asked show the couple the living room. Shia nodded while Dean thought of an awful lie. 

"Oh, yes, as a matter of fact...she's pregnant right now," Dean said wrapping an arm around Shia's waist and pulling her towards him. Shia gave him a hard look. Now, she would have to go along with it and she knew nothing about pregnancy.

"Oh really? How far along are you?" Larry asked Shia, she said the first number that came to mind. 

"About 15 weeks," Shia lied. She made a mental note to slap Dean in the face later. 

"You're not showing yet? My wife was showing around that time," Larry asked almost skeptically. 

"Well, the doctor said I'll pop one of these days," Shia said sending Larry a smile smile. 

"Well, do you know the sex yet? In some cases the doctors can tell already," Larry asked. Man, he is really interested in this whole pregnancy thing. Shia looked at Dean asking for help through her eyes. 

"It's a boy. Yeah, we're excited for a boy," Dean said sending Larry a smile. 

"Well, each house will have a small room. You can turn it into a nursery. I'm assuming your brother will be living with you, so he'll have a room to himself...then there's your father. He could have have a room to himself. Hmm, when I think about you two...you guys should consider a house with five bedrooms and three bathrooms. Let's get into the detail of the house, shall we?" Larry said walking towards the kitchen with Shia and Dean following.

"I'm going to kill you, Dean," Shia whispered in Dean's ear. 

"Oh, I know," Dean said with a grin. 

"You got three choices," Larry said as they walked down the stairs. "Carpet, hardwood and tile."

"Whoa," Shia said as they rounded the corner and saw a number of bug boxes, containing bugs. "Someone likes bugs."

"My son," Larry said, distaste evident in his voice. "He's into insects. He's very inquisitive."

"Hmmm," Dean said, following Shia's gaze to the bug boxes.

~SPN~

Back outside, Sam was stood listening to a lengthy discussion from Lynda about the benefits of moving into Oasis Plains.

"Who can say no to a steam shower?" Lynda said, trying her best to sell the place. "I use mine every day."

"Sounds great," Sam said with a strained smile that Lynda didn't seem to notice.

"You also have three different whirlpool tubs to choose from," she continued. Sam, searching round the yard, noticed the large spider that was slowly making it way towards Lynda's hand resting against the table. Looking up, Sam saw a young boy watching from a short distance away, holding back his laughter.

"The hardware for the tubs includes nickel, brass, and when you see the kitchen you can choose from…."

"Excuse me," Sam said, pushing her gently aside and picking the spider up from the table. Holding the arachnid on his hands, Sam made his way over to the young boy.

"Is this yours?" he asked, handing him the spider.

"You gonna tell my dad?" the boy asked, taking the spider from him.

"I don't know. Who's your dad?"

"Yeah. Larry usually skips me in the family introductions."

"Ouch. The first-name basis with the old man sounds pretty grim."

"Well, I'm not exactly brochure material."

"Well, hang in there. It gets better, all right. I promise."

"When?"

"Matthew!" Larry's voice rang out before Sam could answer him. Sam turned to see Larry marching over to him, Dean and Shia trailing behind.

"I am so sorry about my son and his pet," Larry said, emphasising the last word as he stopped beside his son, Matt.

"It's no bother," Sam said sincerely.

"Excuse us," Larry said, guiding Matt away from them.

"Remind you of somebody?" Sam said to Dean as he and Shia stopped in front of him. Dean looked over at Larry yelling at Matt the turned back to Sam, genuinely unsure of what he meant.

"Dad?" Sam clarified for him.

"Dad never treated us like that," Dean said.

"Well, dad never treated you like that. You were perfect. He was all over my case," Sam said, to which Dean just stared at him blankly, shaking his head.

"You don't remember?"

"Maybe he had to raise his voice, but sometimes you were out of line." Sam reaction to Dean's statement was a short burst of laughter.

"Right. Right. Like when I said I'd rather play soccer than learn bowhunting."

"Bowhuntings an important skill," Dean said as if it was a matter that needed defending.

"Whatever. How was your tour?" Sam asked. Shia, who had been silent the entire time the boys had been having their little discussion, deciding now was the best time make her voice heard. And safest probably.

"Oh, it was excellent. I'm ready to buy and have my baby in about seven months," Shia said, trying to lighten the situation. "So you might be on to something. Looks like Dustin Burwash wasn't the first strange death around here."

"What happened? And are you pregnant?" Sam asked.

"About a year ago, before they broke ground, one of Larry's surveyors dropped dead while on the job. Get this: a severe allergic reaction to bee stings. And hell no! Do I look pregnant to you?! It was Dean's idea." 

"More bugs," Sam said.

"More bugs," Dean said.

"I think we should get out of here," Shia said, turning to the Dean with a smirk. "You know, before Larry over there has us picking out baby decorations and stuff. Or maybe since he thought you guys were gay...he should have you guys pick out 'his & his' matching towels" Dean gave Shia a hard look before grabbing her by the arm and dragging her to the impala. 

~SPN~

Later that night, the pair drove back through Oasis Plains, Sam driving with Dean beside him and Shia in the backseat behind the boys. Sam flicked his eyes between the couple, sighing deeply while both seemed to be in their own worlds, Dean flicking through their father's journal and Shia with her head laid back against the seat.

"You know, we're gonna be lucky if Larry lets us near those houses again," Sam said into the silence. "You guys could have blown this with the whole pregnancy thing. What were you thinking? You knew Shia didn't know much about being pregnant."

"Hey, they were assuming we were gonna have kids someday, so I told them what they wanted to hear," Dean said looking at a sleeping Shia. "Besides, I wouldn't mind having kids with her anyway." It was moments like this when Sam knew that Dean loved his best friend, Dean would possibly quit hunting and settle down with her. Hmm, maybe one day. 

"You have to admit, she does look like a motherly type. Hmm, a mom with a nice ass. That's perfect," Dean said with a small smile, Dean wasn't aware that Shia was awake the entire time they were talking.

"Oh God, Dean, you are such a pervert," Shia cried out, a shocked look on her face as she smacked Dean across the back of his head. Dean just continued smiling widely.

"What? It's not my fault you have a nice ass." Again, Shia swung out to smack Dean again, but Dean was quicker this time, grabbing her wrist and pulling her closer from the backseat.

"You wanna quit that," he told her, still smiling. "You know I'm jokin' babe." Letting go of her wrist, Dean kissed his girl. And with her man somewhat distracted, Shia took the opportunity to get in the smack across the back of Dean's hand he had stopped her from a minute ago. Pulling away, Dean stared at Shia with wide eyes.

"I owed you that hit for the whole pregnancy thing anyway," she said with a smile.

"Guys. Back to the case please," Sam said, breaking up this little scene.

"Yeah," Dean said as they pulled their attention back to the job at hand. Dean went back to his father's journal while Shia leant against his chair, running her hand through his hair where she had smacked him twice as if soothing the spot.

"You know I've heard of killer bees, but killer beetles?" Dean said, flicking through the journal. "What is it that could make different bugs attack?"

"Well, hauntings sometimes include bug manifestation," Sam said.

"Yeah, but I didn't see any evidence of ghost activity."

"Yeah, me neither," Shia agreed.

"Maybe they're being controlled somehow," Dean suggested. "You know, by something or someone."

"You mean like Willard?" Shia said off-handedly.

"Yeah. Bugs instead of rats."

"There are cases of psychic connections between people and animals," Sam said. "Elementals, telepaths."

"Yeah, the whole Timmy-Lassie thing," Dean said, thinking for a moment.

"Larry's kid," Dean came up with. "Bugs for pet's."

"Matt?" Sam said, giving his name.

"Yeah."

"He did try to scare the realtor with a tarantula."

"Think he's out Willard?" Shia asked.

"I don't know. Anything's possible, I guess," Sam said, while Dean's attention was held by something out of the window

"Oh, hey, pull over here," Dean said suddenly. Sam did as he was told, pulling into the driveway of an empty house.

"What are we doing here?" Sam asked as Dean got out of the car, Shia following.

"It's too late to talk to anybody else," Dean said simply, opening up the garage door.

"We're gonna squat in an empty house?" Sam said, getting the picture. Dean nodded, making Shia smile widely.

"I wanna try the steam shower. Come on," Dean said giving Shia a seductive look. 

"I love you at times," she exclaimed, her arms still wrapped round him. "Even when you are a jerk to me."

"Come on, let's get you in the shower." Dean said smiling at his girlfriend, noting the look Sam was giving him. Sam reluctantly drove into the garage Dean was still holding open. Passing by his brother, Sam reached out the open window and punched his brother in the stomach. Dean just rolled through the punch and closed the garage door after the car was inside.

~SPN~

Next morning in the house Sam, Dean and Shia had 'borrowed' for the night, Shia walked down the upstairs hall, following the sound of running water.

"You ever coming out of there?" Shia called into the closed bathroom door.

"What?" Dean's voice called back to her.

"Dean, a police call came in on the scanner," Shia called, this time banging on the bathroom door.

"Hold on," Dean replied, turning the water, which was clearly the shower, off.

"Someone was found dead three blocks from here. Come on." In reply, Dean this time spoke face to face, swinging the bathroom door open wearing two towels, one round his head and one covering his dignity round his waist.

"This shower is awesome. You know we can repeat all the things we did in this shower last night," he said excitedly with a wide smile. As usual around Dean, Shia laughed despite herself.

"Come on!" Shia said, turning to walk away. As she did, Dean pulled her back to him, kissing her. Smiling against his lips, Shia pulled away from him, pulling Dean's dignity towel with her, which only caused Dean to close the door further to hide himself.

"Oh come on, it's nothing I haven't seen before. Now, move your ass ," Shia said with a sly smile, chucking Dean's towel back to him as she walked away and Dean closed the bathroom door again.

~SPN~

With Dean out of the shower, Sam, Dean and Shia followed their police report back down to Oasis Planes. To Lynda, the realtors, house to be exact. The three pulled up outside the crime scene where there were police cars and ambulances already in place. Getting out of the car in the rain, Sam and Dean opened up two umbrella's, Shia linking her arm through Dean's so she could get under the umbrella, that way her hair won't get wet, and walked towards where Larry was stood on his cell phone with his own umbrella.

"Look, I don't know anything more right now," Larry was saying in to the phone. "I'll have to call you back. All right." Larry hung up, looking up as Sam, Dean and Shia came to a stop in front of him.

"Hello. You're, uh, back early," he said nervously to the trio.

"Yeah, we just drove in, wanted to take another look at the neighbourhood," Dean said casually.

"What's going on?" Sam asked.

"You guys met Lynda Bloom at the barbeque?" Larry said, turning to watch as the woman in question was loaded into the back of the coroner van in a body bag.

"The realtor," Sam said.

"Well, she uh… passed away last night," Larry told them.

"What happened?" Shia asked.

"I'm still trying to find out. I identified the body for the police," Larry said, turning to the police at the house door just in time to see them motioning him over.

"Look, I'm sorry. This isn't a good time," Larry said politely, turning back to the group of what he saw as potential buyers.

"It's ok," Shia said equally as polite with a small smile.

"Excuse me," Larry said, walking over to the house.

"You know what we have to do, right?" Dean said once Larry was out of ear shot.

"Yeah," Sam said simply. "Get in that house."

"See if we got a bug problem," Dean finished.

"Ew, I hate bugs," Shia said grimacing, Dean smiled and gave her a quick peck on the lips. 

~SPN~

Once the police emptied out of the house, Sam, Dean and Shia decided it was their turns to look around. Professionals of a different kind.

Climbing a fence and jumping through a window at the side of the house, the group got into the house somewhat illegally, instantly finding the crime scene, with the black outline of Lynda's body as well as the left over blood.

"This looks like the place," Dean said, stepping cautiously over the body outline and into the bathroom. Picking up one of the towels from the bathroom floor, a number of dead spiders fell out of it.

"Spiders," Dean said, turning up to Sam and Shia. "From Spider-Boy?"

"Matt," Sam corrected. "Maybe."

"Okay, now that we have came to our conclusion. Let's get the hell out if here," Shia said looking at the dead spiders. 

Following up on what was now their only lead, Sam, Dean and Shia sat in the car watching as Matt got off his school bus. But it wasn't towards his house where he was heading.

"God, I feel like gross watching kids get off the school bus," Shia said.

"Isn't his house that way?" Dean stated, pointing in the opposite direction to where Matt was heading.

"Yep," Sam said, watching as Matt walked into a wooded area.

"Where the hell is he going?" Shia said. To find out there answer, the three got out of the car, following Matt. They found him in a dense area of the woods, picking a grasshopper from a tree branch.

"Hey, Matt," Sam said as the young boy turned to him. "Remember me?"

"What are you doing out here?" Sam asked, surprised to see the trio here.

"Well, we wanna talk to you," Dean said.

"You're not here to buy a house, are you?" Matt said, stating what was now plainly obvious. "Wait. You're not serial killers?" he finished, getting a little weary of the trio while they smiled at his statement.

"No, no," Shia said with a small laugh. "No, I think you're safe, kid."

"So, Matt, you sure know a lot about insects," Dean said with a sarcastic smile.

"So?" Matt said.

"Did you hear what happened to Lynda, the realtor?"

"I hear she died this morning."

"That's right. Spider bites," Dean said, trying to bait the boy out.

"Matt, you tried to scare her with a spider," Sam said, trying to take the softer approach.

"Wait. You think I had something to do with that?" Matt said.

"You tell us?" Shia said, her voice taking a tone somewhere between Sam and Dean's approach.

"That tarantula was a joke," Matt said, desperately trying to defend himself. "Anyway, that wouldn't explain the bee attack or the gas-company guy."

"You know about those?" Sam said.

"There is something going on here," Matt said. "I don't know what, but… something's happening with the insects. Let me show you something." Picking up his bag, Matt walked further into the woods, Sam, Dean and Shia exchanging a quick look before following him.

"So if you knew about all this bug stuff, why not tell your dad?" Sam asked as they walked. "Maybe he could clear everybody out."

"Believe me, I've tried, but, uh… Larry doesn't listen to me," Matt said.

"Why not?" Sam asked.

"Mostly? He's too disappointed in his freak son."

"I hear ya."

"You do?" Dean said, which earned him a look from Sam before turning back to talk to Matt.

"Matt, how old are you?" Sam asked.

"Sixteen," Matt answered.

"Well don't sweat, because in two years something great's gonna happen."

"What?"

"College. You'll be able to get out of that house and away from your dad."

"What kind of advice is that?" Dean said, a hint of some hidden emotions in his voice. "Kid should stick with his family."

Sam stopped suddenly, turning to Dean with a death glare which Dean returned as the two stared each other down. Holding them apart, Shia pushed her way between the two, talking directly to Matt.

"How much further, Matt?" Shia asked.

"We're close," Matt said, continuing further into the woods. Before following the young boy, Shia turned and smacked Dean across the back of the head.

"Stop it," Shia said, turning to also smack Sam across the back of the head. "Both of you, you're embarrassing."

~SPN~

Leaving the two boys to rub the sore spots on the back of their heads, Shia followed Matt. It was a few seconds before Sam and Dean followed her, and the four now stood in a clearing where there was a high and definite sound of buzzing.

"I've been keeping track of insect populations," Matt told them. "It's part of an AP science class."

"You two are like peas in a pod," Dean said sarcastically. Sam glanced quickly back at his brother, rolling his eyes.

"What's been happening?" he asked Matt.

"A lot. I mean, from bees to earthworms, beetles, you name it. It's like they're congregating here."

"Why?" Dean asked.

"I don't know," Matt answered truthfully, while this whole time, Shia had been staring out into the clearing.

"What's that?" she asked the boys around her, motioning out to a large mound of earth towards the opposite edge of the clearing. She looked over at Matt, who simply shrugged, then turned to her two boys. Dean also shrugged, but walked out towards it to investigate, Sam, Shia and Matt following. Dean tapped his foot against the top of the dirt, the light motion making the earth sink inwards to a small hole. Bending down with the other three stood around him, Dean poked into the hole with a stick, the wood tapping against something inside.

"There's something down there," Dean said to Sam and Shia as he reached down into the whole, digging through the mud while Shia watched him with a slightly disgusted look on her face, showing her girly side over the wet dirt and earthworm that her boyfriend was digging his hand through.

"Come on. Come on," Dean mumbled to himself, digging deeper into the hole.

"You are so not touching me for a while," Shia joked slightly while Dean finally pulled his hand from the dirt hole, pulling a human skull with it. "Could this job get any more gross?" 

~SPN~

Searching for the origin of their newfound pile of skulls, Sam, Dean and Shia pulled up to a college campus. Opening the backseat, Sam covered the box of skulls with his coat before carrying it out and following Dean and Shia up to the campus steps.

"So a bunch of skeletons in an unmarked grave," Sam said casually.

"Well, maybe this is a haunting," Dean suggested. "Pissed-off spirits, some unfinished business?"

"Yeah, maybe. The question is, why bugs? And why now?"

"That's two questions, Sam," Shia said, taking up Dean's post and trying to make the situation light.

"Hey, so with that kid back there, how could you tell him to just ditch his family like that?" Dean said to his brother, not taking Shia opportunity to keep a light tone to their conversation.

"Just, eh, I know what the kid's going through," Sam said.

"How about telling him to respect his old man? How's that for advice?" Dean said.

"Dean, come on," Sam said, coming to an abrupt stop and causing Dean and Shia to stop in front of him. "This isn't about his old man. You think I didn't respect dad. That's what this is about."

"Let's just forget it, all right. Sorry I brought it up," Dean said, beginning to walk away.

"I respected him," Sam called after his brother. "But no mater what I did, it was never good enough."

"So what are you saying, that dad was disappointed in you?" Dean said, stopping again.

" 'Was'? Is. Always has been," Sam said.

"Why would you think that?" Dean asked.

"Because I didn't want to bowhunt. Or hustle pool. Because I wanted to go to school and live my life. Which, in our whacked-out family, made me the freak."

"Yeah, you were kind of like the blonde chick in The Munsters."

"Dean, you know what most dads are when their kids score a full ride? Proud. Most dads don't toss their kids out of the house."

"I remember that fight," Shia said softly, speaking up for the first time during this little argument as she did indeed remember one little part of her childhood in the Winchester household.

"I seem to recall a few choice phrases coming out of your mouth," Dean continued.

"You know, truth is, when we finally do find dad, I don't know if he's even gonna want to see me," Sam said.

"Sam, your dad was never disappointed in you. Never," Shia said, trying to defuse the situation as best she could.

"He was scared," Dean finished.

"What are you talking about?" Sam said.

"He was afraid of what could've happened to you if he wasn't around," Dean said.

"But even when you two weren't talking, he used to swing by Stanford whenever he could," Shia said calmly. "Keep an eye on you. Make sure you were safe."

"What?" Sam said, this being news to him.

"Yeah," Dean said simply.

"Why didn't he tell me any of that?"

"Well, it's a two-way street, honey," Shia said with a gently smile. "You could have picked up the phone."

For a moment, the three stood silent outside of the campus, tears forming in the back of Sam's eyes as he processed this new information.

"Come on. We're gonna be late for our appointment," Dean said, breaking the moment when he and Shia continued walking into the campus, Sam following a second later.

~SPN~

Inside the campus in a large lecture hall, Sam, Dean and Shia are waiting for their answers. And they come in the form of the professor as he walks back in carrying their box of skulls.

"So you three are students?" he asked the trio as they stand as he enters.

"Yeah," Sam said. "Yeah. We're in your class. Antro 101."

"Oh, yeah," the professor said, placing the box down on the desk while Sam, Dean and Shia stand in front of him.

"Yeah," Shia said giving him a polite smile. The professor smiled back, but his smile was full of lust as he eyed Shia up and down. 

"You know? You should start sitting in the front, young lady," He said to Shia giving her a quick wink which Dean caught. 

"So, what about the bones, professor?" Dean asked trying to change the subject off his girlfriend.

"This is quite an interesting find you've made," the professor told the three. "I'd say they're 170 years old, give or take. The time frame and the geography heavily suggest Native American."

"Were there any tribes or reservations on that land?" Sam asked.

"Not according to the historical records," the professor said. "But the, uh… relocation of native peoples was quite common at that time."

"Right," Shia said with her typical, sweet smile. "Well, are there any local legends? Oral histories about the area?"

"Well, you know, there's a Euchee tribe in Sapulpa," the professor said. "It's about 60 miles from here. Someone out there might know the truth."

"All right," Dean said, smiling cheerfully at the two with him.

Sam, Dean and Shia made their way down to the Euchee tribe with their box of skulls. Pulling up beside a local, Dean stuck his head out, asking where they could get the rest of their information. He pointed them off in the opposite direction and Dean drove off, raise his hand in a thank you to the local.

~SPN~

Parking outside a small café, the trio got out and stepped inside, looking round at the patrons. Dean was the first to notice an old man sat at a nearby table playing solitaire. Pointing him out to Sam and Shia, they stood beside his table.

"Joe White tree?" Sam asked, watching as the old man looked up at them and nodded. "We'd like to ask you a few questions, if that's all right."

"We're students from the university," Dean said.

"No you're not. You're lying," Joe said, his attention still on his card game.

"Ermm, well, truth is…." Dean tried.

"You know who starts sentence with 'truth is'? Liars," Joe told them, easily catching out the pairs bluff. Giving up, Dean turned to Shia and Sam, letting him have an attempt at getting the information they needed out of this guy.

"Have you heard of Oasis Plains?" Sam said.

"It's a housing development near the Atoka Valley." Shia continued.

"I like them. They're not a liars," he told Dean then turned back to speak to Shia and Sam. "I know the area."

"What can you tell us about the history there?" Sam asked.

"Why do you wanna know?"

"Something…. Something bad is happening in Oasis Plains. We think it might have something to do with some old bines we found down there. Native American bones."

"I'll tell you what my grandfather told me. What his grandfather told him," Joe said, beginning his story. "Two hundred years ago, a band of my ancestors lived in that valley. One day, the American cavalry came to relocate them. They were resistant, the cavalry impatient. As my grandfather put it: 'On the night the moon and the sun share the sky as equals, the cavalry first raided our village'. They murdered, raped. The next day, the cavalry came again. And the next and the next. And on the sixth night, the cavalry came one last time. And by the time the sun rose, every man, woman and child still in the village was dead." Joe paused slightly, and Sam Dean and Shia exchanged a look, what this might have to do with their current problem running through their minds.

"They say in the sixth night," Joe continued. "As the chief of the village lay dying, he whispered to the heavens, that no white man would ever tarnish this land again. That nature would rise up and protect the valley. And it would bring as many days of misery and death to the white man as the cavalry had brought upon his people."

"Insects," Dean said. "Sounds like nature to me. Six days."

"And on the night of the sixth day, none would survive."

~SPN~

With their new information, Sam, Dean and Shia headed out back towards their car.

"When did the gas-company man die?" Sam asked as they walked.

"Let's see," Dean said. "We got here Tuesday, so Friday the 20th."

"March 20th. That's the spring equinox," Shia said.

"The night the sun and the moon share the sky as equals," Dean repeated what Joe had said.

"So every year about this time, anybody in Oasis plains is in danger," Sam said. "Larry built his neighbourhood on cursed land."

"And on the sixth night, that's tonight."

"If we don't do something, Larry's family will be dead by sunrise. So how do we break a curse?"

"You don't break a curse," Shia said as they stopped beside the car, getting in. "You get out of its way and let it raise hell on it's own. We gotta get those people out now."

~SPN~

With the sun set and the time of the curse slowly approaching, Sam, Dean and Shia sped down towards Larry's house, Dean with his cell phone pressed to his ear and Larry on the other end.

"Yes, Mr. Pike," Dean spoke into the phone. "There's a mainline gas leak in your neighbourhood."

"God. Really?" Larry replied, and it was clear to anyone, except perhaps Dean that Larry really didn't believe him. "How big?"

"Well, it's fairly extensive. I don't wanna alarm you, but we you're your family out of the vicinity for at least 12 hours or so. Just to be safe."

"And who is this again?"

"Travis Weaver," Dean lied. "I work for Oklahoma Gas and Power."

"Uh-huh," Larry said casually. "Well the problem is, I know Travis. He's worked with us for a year. So who is this?"

"Errr…." Dean stuttered slightly before snapping the phone shut in defeat.

"Give me the phone," Sam said, grabbing it from his brother and dialling. The phone dialled through to Matt, sat in his room.

"Hello?" Matt answered after around two rings.

"Matt, it's Sam," Sam voice replied from the other end of the phone.

"Sam, my backyards crawling with cockroaches."

"Matt, just listen. You have to get your family out of that house right now, ok?"

"What? Why?"

"Because something's coming."

"More bugs."

"Yeah," Sam answered, glancing quickly over at the two other occupants of the car. "A lot more."

"My dad doesn't listen in the best of circumstances. What am I supposed to tell him?"

"You gotta make him listen, ok?"

"Give me the phone. Give me the damn phone," Shia said, this time her snatching the phone away as she leant forward to the front seat.

"Matt, under no circumstances are you to tell the truth," Shia called down the phone. "He'll just think you're nuts."

"But… but he's my…." Matt stammered out.

"Tell him you have a sharp pain in your right side and you gotta go to the hospital, ok?"

"Yeah. Yeah, ok," Matt said as both him and Shia hung up. Shia slapped the phone back into Sam's lap, glancing forward at him.

" 'Make him listen'," she mimicked. "What are you thinking? Whatever dilemma you have against John, save it. Okay?"

~SPN~

Hoping that Matt had managed to succeeded in getting his family out of their house and Oasis Planes, Sam, Dean and Shia pulled up outside the house….

Only to find the family car still parked outside.

"Damn it. They're still here. Come on," Dean said as the three jumped out of the car. From the living room window, Larry watched as the three approached his house. He raced outside himself, followed by his son.

"Get off my property before I call the cops," Larry called out to the trio heading up his path.

"Mr. Pike, listen…." Sam called out as the three came to a stop.

"Dad, they're just trying to help," Matt called from over his father's shoulder.

"Get in the house," Larry called back to his son. Matt looked over at Shia, who was giving him a look.

"Sorry. I told him the truth," Matt said to Shia.

"We had a plan, Matt. What the hell happened to the plan?" Shia said.

"Look, it's 12 am," Sam said, bringing the conversation back to the main point. "They are coming any minute now. You need to get your family and go. Before it's too late."

"You mean, before the biblical swarm?" Larry said sceptically.

"Larry, what do you think really happened to the realtor?" Dean butt in. "Huh. And the gas-company guy. You don't think something weird's going on around here?"

"Look, I don't know who you are, but you're crazy," Larry spat out. "You come near my boy or my family again, we're gonna have a problem."

"Well, I hate to be a downer, but we got a problem right now," Dean spat back.

"Dad, they're right," Matt finally spoke up again. "Ok, we're in danger."

"Matt, get inside!" Larry called back to his son again.

"No!" Matt said in reply.

"Now!"

"Why won't you listen to me?"

"Because this is crazy!" Larry cried out in all honesty. "It doesn't make any sense!"

"Look, this land is cursed," Sam said, being the sensible one as always. "People have died here. Now are you gonna really take that risk with your family?"

"Wait," Shia said, stopping Sam's rant as something else hit her ears. "You hear it?"

They did. In the distance, heading quickly their way was the sound of buzzing. The insect kind.

"What the hell…?" Larry stammered out as flies hit against the porch light, making it crackle with electricity.

"All right, it's time to go," Dean said, being the decisive one as always. "Larry, get your wife."

"Yeah," Larry said, suddenly believe them and turning to head back inside his house.

"Guys?" Matt said, his eyes staring out down the street. The others followed his stare and saw thousands and thousands of flies heading their way like a blanket across the sky.

"Oh, my God," Larry said, suddenly seeing that there was no way any of the people around him could be lying.

"We'll never make it," Shia said simply, stating what was clearly the obvious.

"Everybody in the house. Everybody in the house! Go!" Listening to Dean's commands, he, Sam, Shia, Matt and Larry ran back into the house, slamming the door shut behind themselves.

"Is there anyone else in the neighbourhood?" Sam asked Larry.

"No, it's just us," Larry answered as his wife walked out from the living room.

"Honey, what's happening?" Joanie asked her husband. "What's that noise?"

"Call 911," Larry called to her as a reply. Joanie did nothing, she just stared at her husband. "Joanie!" Larry called again, knocking her out of her stupor.

"Ok," Joanie said weakly, walking off to the phone.

"I need towels," Dean called out to Larry.

"The closet," Larry replied, running off with Dean and Shia to retrieve them.

"All right, we gotta lock this place up," Sam said to Matt. "Doors, windows, the fireplace, everything, ok?" With a small nod, Matt followed the urgent Sam up the stairs while his mother held the phone against her ear, listening.

"The phones are dead," Joanie said as Dean, Shia and Larry came back into the room, arms laid with blankets.

"Must have chewed through the phone lines," Dean said as he and Shia knelt beside the front door, rolling blankets into the crack between door and floor. The lights in the house all suddenly blinked out, leaving them only with the small and creepy illumination from the moonlight streaming through the windows.

"And the power lines," Shia said simply, looking round at the darkened house.

"Maybe my cell…." Larry said, grabbing for his cell from the desk draw. "No signal," he said when he looked down at the useless cell in his hands.

"You won't get one," Dean said, picking up on something else on the windows. "They're blanketing the house."

Shia, Larry and Joanie watched as well as tons of flies and other flying insects slapped heavily against the windows, covering them with a dark sheet that began blocking out what little light was coming through. Sam and Matt now joined the group downstairs, the upstairs now secured.

"So, what do we do now?" Larry asked, turning to Sam, Dean and Shia, who he now considered the experts in this.

"We try to outlast it," Sam said as Dean, without a word, dashed off towards the kitchen. "Hopefully the curse will end at sunrise."

" 'Hopefully'?" Joanie said sceptically.

~SPN~

In the kitchen, Dean was now rummaging through all the different products under the sink, trying to ignore the almost eerie sound of both the buzzing of the flies and the slaps as they hit against the windows. Keeping his attention on the boxes beneath the sink, Dean finally found what he was looking for. A can of bug spray.

Heading back to the others, Dean received an odd look from Joanie when she saw what he was now holding in his hand.

"Bug spray?" she said questioningly.

"Trust me," Dean said. Just then, the soft sound of creaking echoing from the living room joined all the other all too disconcerting sounds around the house.

"What is that?" Matt's scared voice squeaked out as Sam, Dean and Shia walked tentatively into the living room.

"The flue," Shia said softly, knowing all too well what was happening. And so did the brothers.

"All right, I think everybody needs to get upstairs," Dean called to the others, backing towards the stairs carefully but quickly. Just then, the last thing in the world they had wanted to happen happened as the flue broke and thousands of wasps darting out into the house. 

A woman scream, clearly Joanie's, rang through the house as the group ran for the stairs, ducking, covering and swatting away the wasps. Dean picking up the rear of the group, held up his light lighter to the spray can and sprayed, turning the can in to a flame-educed mini weapon he aimed at the approaching insects.

"Everybody upstairs!" Dean yelled to the group behind him. "Now! Go, go, go! Go!"

The five of them obeyed, running past Dean and up the stairs while he continuing spraying his mini flame thrower towards the insects. Once the others were past him, Dean stopped his flame, concentrating on running up the stairs after the others, where they were heading to the loft. Larry pulled down the loft door and ladder, sending his wife and son up before him.

"Go on Matt, go!" Larry called as Matt crawled into the loft, climbing up after him. Sam, Dean and Shia quickly following them, Dean spraying his make-shift flame thrower at the opening of the loft, discouraging any insects from coming closer.

"Come on!" he called to his brother and girlfriend, who closed the loft door and followed him over to where there were small holes being made in the ceiling, sawdust falling like small torrents of snow.

"Oh, God. What's that?" Joanie said, the fear really kicking in now.

"Something's eating through the wood," Dean said in answer.

"Termites," Matt said, answering the unspoken question.

"All, right, everybody get back," Shia commanded the rest of the civilians to their group. "Get back! Get back!"

Listening, Matt, Larry and Joanie moved towards the back of the loft just as the half eaten section of the loft fell through, letting in a swarm of angry wasps. While Dean set alight the can again, Sam began kicking away a section of panel from a nearby box. Seeing what he was doing and getting the idea, Shia kicked loses a pole from the edge of the room.

"You got it?" Sam asked as he held the panel against the hole in the roof.

"Yeah," Shia called back, propping the panel in place with the pole. But all was for nothing as another section of roof fell in, letting through more wasps. Matt, Larry and Joanie cowered further in the corner, Sam and Shia joining them while Dean sprayed the bug spray/flame thrower towards the incoming wasps. The first hole fell through again, just as the spray can ran out and their only good weapon against these bugs was lost.

"Oh, crap!" Dean yelled, throwing the empty can across the room and ducking with the others. The group huddled together, covering themselves from the onslaught of wasps streaming in through the holes in the roof. They covered their coats and clothing over their heads, Dean's arms and jacket wrapped round Shia, feeling the need to protect his girl even though he knew she didn't need protecting.

"Look," Matt suddenly said, pointing out towards the open roof. The rest of the group followed his gaze to see the morning sunlight now streaming into the attic. Sam, Dean and Shia slowly got to the feet, standing below the new skylight, watching as the wasps that had once been their attackers fled into the early morning sky.

"You know, I just realized something," Shia said. 

"Yeah, and what's that?" Dean asked. 

"The curse was for white people, right? Well, I don't know if you noticed but I'm not white. The curse couldn't have effect me." Shia told the boys. 

"Yeah, you have a point," Sam said as he shrugged. 

~SPN~

With now both the trauma of the night and the case over for Sam, Dean and Shia, They pulled up outside Larry's house to see him packing up a removals van with all their household items.

"What, no goodbye?" Dean said as the trio stepped up to Larry beside the van.

"Good timing," Larry said with a small smile as he turned to them. "Another hour and we'd have been gone."

"For good?" Sam asked.

"Yeah. The developments been put on hold while the government investigates those bones you found. But I'm gonna make damn sure no one lives here again."

"You don't seem too upset about it," Shia said with a small smile of her own.

"Well, this has been the biggest financial disaster of my career, but…." Larry trailed off as he watched Matt walked out of the house with a number of his boxes.

"Somehow… I really don't care," Larry finished as he turned back to Sam, Dean and Shia, who in turned smile back, glad to see there was something else they had managed to achieve on this case.

Pulling away from the others, Sam walked over to Matt, watching as he threw away seemingly everything he owned that was bug like.

"What's this?"

"I don't know," Matt replied with a short laugh. "They kind of weird me out now."

"Yeah, I should hope so," Sam said with a small laugh himself.

~SPN~

After saying their goodbyes, Dean and Shia leaned against the car, watching and waiting as Sam walked back to them, leaning beside Shia. They watched for a second as Larry and Matt walked back into the house, communicating like they never had before.

"I wanna find dad," Sam suddenly spoke into the silence.

"Yeah, me too," Dean replied, while Shia silently agreed with a nod, wanting the only family she had ever known back together just as much as the boys.

"Yeah, but I just…. I wanna apologize to him," Sam said.

"For what?"

"All the things I said to him. He was just doing the best he could." After his words, Shia leaned into Sam, hugging herself against his side.

"Well, don't worry," Shia said into his shoulder. "We'll find him. And you'll apologize. And then within fives minutes, you guy's will be at each other's throats again."

"Yeah, probably," Sam said with a laugh, swinging his arm round his friend shoulders and sitting for a minute with her hugged to his side.

"Let's hit the road," he said finally, pulling away and standing up.

"Let's," Dean said, him and Shia following Sam into the car, the three driving away with the residual hope that it wouldn't be long before this somewhat dysfunctional family was back together again.


	9. ASYLUM (1x10)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The hunters receive a text message from John. Sam struggles with the fact of being empty handed when it comes to finding John.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and Comments are always welcomed! :)

"I remember when  
I remember, I remember when I lost my mindThere was something so pleasant about that placeEven your emotions have an echo in so much space  
And when you're out there, without careYeah I was out of touchBut it wasn't because I didn't know enoughI just knew too much  
Does that make me crazy?" -Gnarls Barkley, Crazy. 

~ASYLUM (1x10)~

~April 3rd, 2006 (approximately 3:23 p.m.)~

The Winchesters and Shia stopped at a gas station. Dean was outside filling the car up, Shia was beside him. Sam was in the store getting some snacks for the road.

"So, you saw your mom?" Shia asked. Dean nodded in response. "Damn, that's got to be tough. I'm sorry you had to go through that."

"Yeah, I just wish I had you with me," Dean said, looking at his girlfriend.

"I know, baby, but you know Bobby's rules when it comes to me." Shia said with a small smile. "'If you're gonna be hunting with the Winchesters, you should come back home and hunt with your old man when he needs ya on a case.'" The young woman said, doing an impersonation of the legendary hunter, Bobby Singer. "And trust me, he needed me on that case." Shia told Dean, she could have sworn she saw Dean smile a little. 

Shia moved over closer to Dean and gave him a gentle kiss on his cheek. "I love you, Dean Winchester."

"Yeah, well, ditto," Dean said with a smile.

"Okay, guys, ready to go. I have snacks," Sam said as he was walking back towards the car.

"Did you get me some chocolate?" Shia asked, Sam nodded and pulled out a candy bar. The trio got in the car, on their way to a motel.  

~••~ 

In a motel room, Sam, Dean and Shia were still on their search for the boy's father. Dean sat at the table, flipping through the journal, while Shia sat on the bed going through sheets of information that weren't in the journal. Sam sat on the bed opposite to Shia on his cell phone.

"No, dad was in California last we heard from him," Sam said into the phone. "We just thought he comes to you for munitions, maybe you seen him in the last few weeks. Just call us if you hear anything. Thanks."

"Caleb hasn't heard from him?" Dean asked as Sam hung up.

"Nope," Sam answered. "Neither has Jefferson or Pastor Jim. What about the journal? Any leads in there?"

"No," Dean said. "Same as last time I looked. Nothing I can make out. I love the guy, but I swear he writes like friggin' Yoda."

"You know, maybe we should call the feds," Sam suggested. "File a missing persons."

"We talked about this," Shia said, looking up from the sheets. "Your dad would be pissed if we put the feds on his tail."

"I don't care anymore," Sam said as Dean cell phone went off, Dean looking through piles of his clothes for it. "After all that happened back in Kansas. I mean, he should have been there, Dean. You said so yourself. You tried to call him and nothing."

"I know," Dean said. "Where the hell is my cell phone?"

"You know, he could be dead for all we know," Sam said, ignoring him.

"Don't say that. He's not dead. He's… he's…."

"He's what? He's hiding? He's busy?"

"Sam, this is John we're talking about. I'm sure he's fine," Shia said as Dean finally found his cell phone, flicking it open to see the sound was a message tone. He opened it and saw it was from an unavailable number and simply read 42, -89. Co-ordinates.

"I don't believe it," Dean said with a slight laugh.

"What, baby?" Shia asked as Dean sat on the bed beside her.

"It's a… a text message," he stumbled out. "It's co-ordinates."

~••~

After the message on Dean's phone, Shia was searching across the web about the location John sent them, Dean beside her, while Sam paced the room, still processing everything. 

"You think dad was texting us?" Sam said for about the fifth time.

"He's given us co-ordinates before," Dean gave the reply he had before.

"The man can barely work a toaster, Dean," Sam said.

"Sam, this is good news," Dean assured him. "It means he's ok. Or alive, at least."

"Well, was there a number on the caller I.D.?"

"No, it said unknown."

"Ok, well where do the co-ordinates point?" Sam said, turning to Shia.

"That's the interesting part," Shia said. "Rockford, Illinois."

"Ok, and that's interesting how?" Sam said.

"Well, I checked the local Rockford paper. Take a look at this," Shia said, turning the screen do Sam could see. He moved beside her, looking at the screen as Shia magnified a picture of Officer Kelly.

"This cop, Walter Kelly," Shia went on. "He comes home from his shift, shoots his wife, then puts the gun in his mouth, blows his brains out. And earlier that night, Kelly and his partner responded to a call at the Roosevelt Asylum."

"Ok, I'm not following," Sam said as Shia began flipping through the journal. "What does this have to do with us?"

"Your dad earmarked the same asylum in the journal. Let's see," Shia said, turning to the right page and showing it to Sam and Dean. "Here. Seven unconfirmed sightings. Two deaths. Till last week, at least. I think this is where he wants us to go."

"This is a job," Sam said, standing up and pacing angrily with his fingers laced behind his head. "Dad wants us to work a job."

"Yeah, maybe we'll meet up with him," Dean said. "Maybe he's there."

"Maybe he's not," Sam said. "He could be sending us there by ourselves to hunt this thing."

"Who cares?" Dean said, standing up as Shia closed the laptop and listened to them. "If he wants us there it's good enough for me."

"This doesn't strike you as weird?" Sam said. "The texting? The co-ordinates?"

"Sam. Dad's telling us to go somewhere, we're going," Dean said, walking off to pack his stuff. Sam and Shia just sat staring after him, knowing that when it came to his father, there was no way in hell either of them were gonna change his mind.

~April 4th, 2006 (approximately 10:56 p.m.)~

Following the co-ordinates and leads they had from the cases at the asylum, Sam, Dean and Shia had turned up at a bar. Inside the bar, Officer Gunderson was sat solemnly at the bar on his own. That was until Dean and Shia approached him.

"You're Daniel Gunderson, right? You're a cop?" Dean said.

"Yeah," Gunderson said simply.

"I'm Nigel Tufnel, this is Tina Badu," Dean said, him and Shia sitting opposite Gunderson. "We're with the Chicago Tribune. Mind if we ask you a couple of questions about your partner?"

"Yeah, I do," Gunderson said. "I'm just trying to have a beer here."

"It's okay, it won't take that long," Shia said with a sweet smile. "We just want to hear the story in your words."

"A week ago my partner was sitting in that chair," Gunderson said. "Now he's dead. You gonna ambush me here?"

"Sorry. But we need to know what happened," Dean said. From the other side of the bar, Sam walked aggressively over to them.

"Hey, buddy. How about leaving the poor guy alone, huh?" Sam said, grabbing Dean roughly from his chair and pushing him into the pool table. "The man's an officer. Why don't you show a little respect."

Dean leaned against the pool table for a minute, staring at Sam, before leaving. Dean gone, Sam turned to Shia, who held her hands up in defense.

"I'm out of here," Shia said, leaving Sam alone with Gunderson.

"You didn't have to do that," Gunderson said to Sam.

"Yeah, of course I did. Those kinda people are serious jerks. Let me buy you a beer, huh?" Sam said, turning to the barman and holding up two fingers. "Two."

"Thanks," Gunderson said as Sam took the chair he had just thrown Dean out of.

~••~

Outside the bar, Dean and Shia leaned against the car, waiting for Sam. Dean was massaging a sore shoulder while Shia just looked really bored.

"I'm so frigging bored," Shia said with a smile. "Why did we have to be the people who get kicked out of the bar?"

"You weren't kicked out, baby," Dean said. "I was, you left willingly."

"Oh no," Shia said, turning to Dean with a smile. "Did Sammy hurt you?"

"No," Dean said, although he continued to massage his shoulder. Smiling, Shia leaned into his shoulder and kissed it gently, keeping her eyes focused on his face. Dean turned to her with a smile, spinning her so she was in front of him, standing between his legs, and making her giggle softly.

"You said you were bored, right?" Dean said.

"Yeah, I did," Shia said. In reply to this, Dean simply pulled Shia closer and kissed her.

"Helping?" he said as he pulled away, smiling cheekily.

"Maybe," Shia said, wrapping her arms round Dean's neck and pulling him to kiss her again. Unnoticed by the pair, Sam walked out of the bar behind them, seeing the two clearly too occupied to notice him. Getting their attention, Sam cleared his throat loudly, making the two pull apart and turn to him.

"Hey," Dean said, him and Shia separating to stand side by side again. "You shoved me kind of hard in there, buddy boy."

"I had to sell it, didn't I?" Sam said. "It's Method acting."

"Huh?" Dean said, to which Shia repressed a laugh at her clueless her boyfriend sometimes was. Gorgeous and a real sweet guy, but clueless.

"Never mind," Sam said.

"I'm just glad you didn't have to turn on me," Dean said with a smile at Sam. "What'd you find out from Gunderson?"

"So, Walter Kelly was a good cop," Sam told them. "Head of his class, even-keeled. He had a bright future ahead of him."

"What about at home?" Dean asked.

"He and his wife had a few fights, like everybody, but it was mostly smooth sailing," Sam said. "They were even talking about having kids."

"Awe, that's so sad," Shia said out loud.

"All right, so either Kelly had some deep seated crazy waiting to bust out, or something else did it to him," Dean said.

"Right," Sam said.

"What did Gunderson tell you about the asylum?" Shia asked.

"A lot," Sam said with a smile.

~April 5th, 2006 (approximately 11:32 a.m.)~

Going to the source of the problem, Sam, Dean and Shia jumped the fence into the asylum that next morning.

"So apparently, the cops chased the kids here, into the south wing," Sam said as they walked around the building.

"South wing, huh? Wait a second," Dean said, flicking through the pages of his fathers journal. "South wing, south wing. 1972. 'Three kids broke into the south wing. Only one survived'. The way he tells it, one of his friends went nuts and started lighting up the place."

"So whatever is going on, south wing seems like the heart of it," Shia said.

"Yeah, but if kids are spelunking the asylum, why aren't there a ton more deaths?" Dean said. As if answering that, Sam's eye fell on the broken chain across the doors.

"Looks like the doors are usually chained," Sam said. "Could've been chained up for years."

"Yeah, to keep people out," Dean said.

"Or to keep something in," Shia added as Sam cautiously walked to the doors, slowly pushing them open. He exchanged a look with Dean and Shia before the three walked together through the corridors, Dean with his EMF meter out.

"Let me know if you see any dead people, Haley Joel," Dean said to Sam.

"Dude, enough," Sam said, making Dean and Shia laugh slightly.

"I'm serious," Dean went on. "You gotta be careful, all right. Ghosts are attracted to that whole ESP thing you got going."

"I told you, it's not ESP," Sam argued. "I just have strange vibes sometimes. Weird dreams."

"Yeah, whatever," Dean said. "Don't ask, don't tell."

"You getting any reading on the thing or not?" Sam said, keeping the conversation on the topic at hand.

"Nope," Dean said. "Of course that doesn't mean nobody's home."

"Spirits can appear during certain hours of the day," Sam said.

"Yeah, the freaks come out at night," Shia translated into her kind of language.

"Yeah," Sam agreed.

"Hey Sam, who do you thinks the hotter psychic?" Shia started with a smile. "Patricia Arquette, Jennifer Love Hewitt, or you?"

With a playful look her way, Sam shoved Shia lightly as her and Dean laughed. Carrying on their personal tour of the building, the trio walked into an old operating room, Dean whistling lowly as he looked round at all the equipment. He flicked the switches on the EMF meter one last time before giving up and putting it away as he still got nothing.

"Man. Electroshock, labotomies. They did some twisted stuff to these people," Dean said before putting on a Jack Nicholson type accent. "Kind of like my man Jack in Cuckoo's Nest."

And all his attempted joke earned him were stares from his brother and girlfriend.

"So, what do you think?" Dean said, giving up the joking. "Ghosts are possessing people?"

"Maybe," Sam said.

"Or maybe it's more like, uh… like Amityville or the Smurl haunting," Shia suggested.

"Spirits driving them insane," Dean said. "Kind of like my man Jack in The Shining."

"Give it up, sweetie," Shia said, giving him a response this time as they carried on looking round the room.

"Dean?" Sam said, making Dean turn to him. "When are we gonna talk about it?"

"Talk about what?" Dean asked.

"About the fact that dad's not here," Sam said.

"Oh, let's see. Never," Dean said.

"I'm being serious, man," Sam said.

"So am I, Sam," Dean said. Behind them, Shia just shook her head. She could see the inevitably battle of the brothers coming up, which neither would win, and she didn't feel like getting involved. She just carried on searching round the room, continuing with the real reason why they were there.

"Look, he sent us here," Dean continued. "He obviously wants us here. We'll just have to pick up the search later."

"It doesn't matter what he wants," Sam said.

"See, that attitude right there? That is why I always got the extra cookie."

"Dad could be in trouble. We should be looking for him. We deserve some answers, Dean. I mean, this is our family we're talking about."

"I understand that, Sam. But he's given us an order."

"So what, we gotta always follow dad's orders?"

"Of course we do."

"Are you two girls done?" Shia said finally, a hint of annoyance in her tone. "Can we get back to the case now?"

Both looking over at the rational girl, all Sam and Dean had to see was the look in her eyes and the way she was standing, to know she was annoyed enough to cause both of them pain if they didn't listen to her at the exact moment. The three now looking round the room, Shia picked up a metal plague from one of the tables.

"'Sanford Ellicott'," she read off of it. "You know what we gotta do. We gotta find out more about the south wing. See if something happened here."

Shia turned to walk out, smacking the plague across Dean's arm and shoving it into Sam's chest as she walked past them. Looking down at the sign, the boys read 'Chief of Staff Sanford Ellicott. M.D.' Glancing at each other, Sam threw the plague down as he and Dean followed Shia out.

~••~

Looking up the name Ellicott, the three had found his living relative, psychiatrist Dr James Ellicott. Taking this one, Sam was sat in the waiting room flipping through a magazine when the doctor came out of his office.

"Sam Winchester?" he called into the waiting room, making Sam look up.

"That's me," Sam said.

"Come on in," James said, walking into his office with Sam following behind. The two sat opposite each other, James at his desk and Sam on the couch.

"Thanks again for seeing me last minute," Sam said, looking round the room at all the certificates on the walls, and pictures on the desk. "Dr. Ellicott? Ellicott, that name. Wasn't there a… a Dr. Sanford Ellicott? Yeah, he was a… he was a chief psychiatrist somewhere."

"My father was chief of staff at the old Roosevelt Asylum," James said "How did you know?"

"Uh, well, I'm sort of a local history buff," Sam adlibbed. "Hey, wasn't there a… wasn't there an incident or something? In the, uh... in the…. In the hospital, I guess. In the south wing, right?"

"We're on your dollar, Sam. We're here to talk about you," James said.

"Oh, ok. Yeah, yeah, sure," Sam said.

"So," James began.

"So," Sam repeated, not sure what to say.

"How's things?" James asked.

"Uh, things are good, doctor?" Sam said.

"Good. What you been doing?" James asked.

"Uh, same old. Just been on a road trip with my brother and a friend," Sam said, the tone in his voice quite different between the words 'brother' and 'friend'.

"Was that fun?"

"Loads. Um, you know, we met a lot of… interesting people."

"Mm-hm."

"Did a lot of, uh…. A lot of interesting things," Sam said, wanting to get off this subject. "Uh…. You know, what was it exactly that happened in the south wing? I forget…."

"Look, if you're a local history buff, then you know all about the Roosevelt riot," James said.

"The riot? Well, no, I know. I'm just curious," Sam said.

"Sam, let's cut the bull, shall we?" James said. "You're avoiding the subject."

"What subject?" Sam asked.

"You," James said simply. "Now, I'll make you a deal. I'll tell you all about the Roosevelt riot if you tell me something honest about yourself. Like… this brother you're road tripping with. How do you feel about him?"

This question, for Sam, was a stumper. One he wasn't sure he wanted to answer.

Outside the doctor's office, Dean and Shia were waiting somewhat impatiently for Sam to come back out. Dean grabbing Shia by the waist pulling her towards him, Sam walked passed them as he came out, Dean and Shia following him to the car.

"Dude. You were in there forever," Dean said. "What the hell were you talking about?"

"Just the hospital, you know," Sam said.

"And?" Shia said.

"And the south wing?" Sam said. "It's where they housed the real hard cases. The psychotics, the criminally insane."

"Sounds cosy," Dean said.

"Yeah. And one night in '64, they rioted. Attacked staff, attacked each other."

"So what, the patients took over the asylum?"

"Apparently."

"Any deaths?"

"Some patients, some staff. I guess it was pretty gory. Some of the bodies were never even recovered including our chief of staff, Ellicott."

"What do you mean, never recovered?"

"Cops scoured every inch of the place, but I guess the patients must've stuffed the bodies somewhere hidden."

"That's grim," Shia said with a grimace.

"Yeah," Sam said. "So they transferred all the surviving patients and shut down the hospital for good."

"All right, so to sum it up," Shia said. "We've got a bunch of violent deaths and a bunch of unrecovered bodies."

"Which could mean a bunch of angry spirits," Sam added.

"Good times," Dean said as the group got into the car. "Let's check out the hospital tonight."

~April 6th, 2006 (approximately 1:21 a.m.)~

Back at the main doors to the building, Sam, Dean and Shia cautiously pushed through, knowing they were more than likely gonna find a lot more by night than day. Each had their equipment on them as they walked in, Sam with a flashlight, Dean with an EMF meter and Shia holding a video camera on night vision.

"Getting readings?" Sam asked as the EMF meter beeped.

"Yeah, big time," Dean said.

"Full of spirits, this place is orbing like crazy," Shia said, motioning to the camera lens where there were white balls floating around.

"Probably multiple spirits out and about," Dean said.

"If these unrecovered bodies are causing the haunting…." Sam began.

"We gotta find them and burn them," Dean finished. "Just be careful though. The only thing that makes me more nervous than a pissed off spirit is the pissed off spirit of a psycho killer."

As they walked down the corridor, they didn't notice the figure pass quickly behind them, and didn't see a thing as they turned. And seeing nothing, they carried on walking, also not noticing the spirit in the side corridor as they passed. The spirit of an old patient, his head shaking violently as he sat strapped in a straight jacket.

The three moved off in opposite directions, Dean down one corridor with his EMF meter while Shia took the night screen camcorder into another room with Sam and his flashlight. Searching round all the different nooks and crannies of the room, Shia followed a sound with her camcorder, which picked up the images of a woman, a large hole through the side of her head. Sam and Shia gasped in shock, backing up quickly as the woman slowly approached them.

"Dean. Dean! Shotgun!" Shia called out and Dean came racing in, shotgun aimed at the woman.

"Get down!" Dean yelled, firing as Sam and Shia ducked, the rock salt repelling the spirit as she disappeared.

"What the hell? That was weird," Shia said as her and Sam got to their feet.

"Yeah, you're telling me," Dean said, he pulled Shia towards him to get a look at her. "You okay? She didn't hurt you, right?" Shia shook her head.

"Babe, I'm fine. She didn't really attack us. It was weird," Shia said, Dean nodded his head and turned to walk away with Shia and Sam following.

"Yeah, I know," Dean said almost skeptically.

"No, Dean, I mean, it was weird that she didn't attack us," Sam said.

"Looked pretty agro from where I was standing," Dean said.

"She didn't hurt us," Sam said. "She didn't even try. So if she didn't want to hurt us then what did she want?"

Walking past one of the rooms, a low noise caught their ears. Turning his shotgun to the room, Dean walked in cautiously with Sam and Shia to where there was an upturned bed against the corner wall. Shia tipping it aside, the three came face to face with a terrified girl, known as Kat, curled up in the corner.

"It's alright, sweetie. We're not going to hurt you. It's ok," Shia said as Dean lowered the shotgun and Kat stood up. "What's your name?"

"Katherine," Kat said. "Kat."

"Ok," Dean said. "I'm Dean. This is Sam and my girlfriend Shia."

"What are you doing here?" Sam asked.

"Um, my boyfriend Gavin…." Kat started.

"Is he here?" Dean interrupted her.

"Somewhere," Kat said, Sam, Dean and Shia exchanging a worried glance. "He thought it would be fun and try and see some ghosts. I thought it was all just, you know, pretend. I've seen things. I heard Gavin scream and…."

"All right," Dean said, taking her hand and leading her to the door. "Kat, come on. Sam's gonna get you out of here and then we're gonna find your boyfriend."

"No, no," Kat said, pulling away from him. "I'm not gonna leave without Gavin. I'm coming with you."

"It's no joke around her okay, it's dangerous," Dean said.

"That's why I've gotta find him," Kat said adamantly.

"Alright," Dean said, giving in. "I guess we're gonna split up, then. Let's go."

Looking for Gavin, the group separated, Sam and Shia searching in one direction while Dean was with Kat.

"Gavin!" Sam called into the quiet of the building.

"Gavin?" Shia repeated, aiming the flashlight round the corridors. Turning, she came face to face with Sam, who was staring at her.

"What?" Shia asked cautiously.

"Nothing," Sam said with a smile. "It's just we barely get time to ourselves. I just miss having my best friend to myself."

"You make it sound like we're having a dirty affair. I'm sorry we don't have much time together. Okay?" Shia said with a friendly smile.

"Yeah, well, I miss you."

For a second, Shia just continued to stare at Sam, wondering why, as he said, he was bringing this up now of all times. After the second, she smiled slightly, somewhat seeing his point and linking her arm through his.

"You're right," she said. "Well, as of right now we're spending time together."

"Yeah. What fun we're having!" Sam said sarcastically, making Shia laugh a little.

"Okay," Shia said. "If we get out here, remind me to get rid of Dean for a while. We can have some bff time then."

"Alright. Okay," Sam said with a smile, the two going back to the matter at hand.

Up on their side of the building, Sam and Shia walked into a room to see Gavin lay on the floor.

"Gavin. Hey, Gavin," Sam said, trying to shake him awake. It worked, Gavin waking with a jump and edging away from them.

"Hey, it's okay, it's okay," Sam said. "We're here to help."

"Who are you?" Gavin asked.

"My name is Sam. This is Shia," Sam said, helping Gavin to his feet. "We found your girlfriend."

"Kat?" Gavin said.

"Yeah," Sam answered.

"Is she all right?" Gavin asked.

"She's worried about you," Shia said. "Are you okay?"

"I was running," Gavin said. "I think I fell."

"You were running from what?" Sam asked.

"There was… there was this girl," Gavin stuttered out. "Her… her face…. It was all messed up."

"Okay, alright. Listen, listen," Shia said. "This girl, did she try to hurt you?"

"What? No. She…." Gavin said, his sentence faltering off.

"She what?" Shia said.

"She kissed me," Gavin said, half whispering.

"Well, did she try to hurt you physically?" Shia said.

"Lady, she kissed me," Gavin said. "I'm scarred for life."

"Well, trust me, it could've been worse, she could've groped you or something," Shia said, her and Sam laughing slightly. "Now, do you remember anything else?"

"She…. Actually, she tried to whisper something in my ear," Gavin said.

"What?" Shia asked.

"I don't know. I ran like hell," Gavin admitted.

Back down the opposite side of the building, Dean and Kat were still on their search for Gavin, Dean's flashlight doing just as his had and flickering out completely.

"You son of a bitch," he muttered, putting away the useless flashlight and pulling a lighter from his pocket. "It's all right. I got a lighter."

"Ow. You're hurting my arm," Kat said softly.

"What are you talking about?" Dean said. Turning round, he held the glow from the lighter near her arm, seeing a dead looking something with a hold on Kat's arm. With a scream, Kat was forcibly pulled into a side room, the door locking behind her.

"Kat!" Dean yelled into the room, pulling on the door while Kat pounded on it. "Kat, hang on!"

With a crowbar, Dean tried to pry the door open when Kat stopped pounding, sensing something else in the room with her. She turned, but there was nothing there. Nothing until she turned again and the spirit of a shaggy looking man was in front of her. She screamed, backing away, but the spirit was now behind her. Inside the small room, she tried her best to get away from him, screaming still.

Outside the room, Dean was still trying to pry the door open when Sam, Shia and Gavin came running up to him.

"What's going on?" Sam asked.

"She's inside with one of them," Dean said.

"Help me!" Kat yelled out, pressed against the wall and trying not to look at the spirit.

"Kat!" Gavin screamed through the door.

"Get me out of here!" Kat yelled again.

"Kat, honey," Shia yelled through the door to her. "It's not gonna hurt you! Listen to me! You have to face it. You have to calm down."

"She's gotta what?" Dean said.

"I have to what?" Kat repeated.

"The spirits. They're not trying to hurt us," Shia said. "They're trying to communicate. You gotta listen to it. You gotta face it."

"You face it!" Kat yelled back to her.

"No. It's the only way you're gonna get out of there," Shia told her.

"No!" Kat screamed.

"Look at it, that's all. Come on, you can do it," Shia yelled to her.

For a moment, Sam, Dean, Shia and Gavin waited outside while there was silence inside. Waited with baited breath while inside the room, Kat slowly turned to face the spirit as he leaned in to whisper to her.

"Kat?" Gavin called into the room after too much silence.

"Babe, I hope you're right about this," Dean said to Shia.

"Yeah, me too," Shia said as the door clicked open, Kat stood dazed in the doorway.

"Kat," Gavin said, grabbing her as she came out of the room and Sam, Dean and Shia took her place, looking round.

"One thirty-seven," Kat said.

"Sorry?" Dean said.

"It whispered in my ear," Kat told them. "137."

"Room number," Sam, Dean and Shia said together, exchanging a look as they bent down by their bag.

"All right, so if these spirits aren't trying to hurt anyone…." Sam said.

"Then what are they trying to do?" Dean added.

"Maybe that's what they've been trying to tell us," Shia said.

"I guess we'll find out. All right," Dean said, the three getting to their feet. "So…. Now, you guys ready to leave this place?"

"That's an understatement," Kat said.

"Ok," Dean said, turning to Sam. "You get them out of here. We're gonna go find room 137."

With a flashlight each and a shotgun, Dean and Shia made their way down the corridor while Sam took Kat and Gavin to safety.

~••~

"So how do you guys know about all this ghost stuff?" Kat asked now they were away from Dean and Shia.

"It's kind of our job," Sam said.

"Why would anyone want a job like that?" Kat said.

"I had a crappy guidance counsellor," Sam said with a small laugh.

"And Dean? He's your boss?" Kat said.

"No," Sam said, turning to her. But while he said it, he did wonder just how many people who came in to their lives thought that. Dean had a way of taking charge of the situation, whatever the situation, and whoever the situation was with. And the taken charge deal went high beyond just the big brother deal. And Kat's question made him wonder whether he was glad other people could see this, or even more annoyed at Dean for making it too obvious.

Or then there was the option of being annoyed at himself for letting it happen.

~••~

While they were heading out, Dean and Shia were walking deeper into the building, looking at door after door for room 137.

"Dean," Shia called as her flashlight beam shone on door number 137.

"Bingo," Dean said, walking up behind her. Pushing the door, Dean tipped aside the chair blocking it and walked in, Shia behind him. On the floor at their feet, the first thing they saw was a plague reading 'Dr. Sanford Ellicott', clearly meant for the door. Stepping over that and the rest of the debris in the room, Dean and Shia took to searching through the old file cabinet.

In room 137, Dean and Shia were still searching around, looking through the debris, the file cabinet and the trash can. Kneeling beside the desk, Dean noticed a removable panel in the wall. Inside was a brown leather case, which he held up to Shia.

"This is why I get paid the big bucks," Dean said. Shia took the case off him, taking a journal from inside and flipping through the pages.

"Patients journal," Shia read aloud. Dean pulled out a chair from behind the desk, about to sit on it, when he was swatted away by Shia, who took the seat. Glaring at her, all it took was one innocent smile for him to give in, kneeling beside her and holding the flashlight over the journal.

"Why all work and no play makes Dr. Ellicott a very dull boy," Shia said as they flipped through the pages of the journal.

~••~

At the main exit, Kat and Gavin were still standing guard. Kat was sat on the floor, the shotgun resting against her shoulder, while Gavin paced in front of her.

"Hey, Gavin?" Kat said.

"Yeah?" Gavin said, kneeling beside her.

"If we make it out of here alive, we are so breaking up," Kat said, the sound of a clatter and approaching footsteps reaching their ears before Gavin could say anything else. Turning towards the sound, they saw a shadow walking across the wall, heading their way.

"Did you hear that?" Kat said.

"Something's coming," Gavin said, the pair standing up. The shadow turned into Dean and Shia walking round the corner, although Kat didn't se this in time and shot anyway. Dean quickly ducked, pulling Shia with him.

"Damn it, damn it!" Dean grated out.

"Don't shoot, it's us!" Shia called round the corner.

"Sorry, sorry," Kat called to them.

"Son of a…." Shia droned out, her and Dean getting up and coming fully round the corner. On the wall where their heads should have been was now a large hole made by the rock salt round. It seems spirits weren't the only things rock salt could harm.

"What are you still doing here?" Dean asked. "Where's Sam?"

"He went to the basement," Gavin said, motioning to Shia. "You called him."

"What the hell? I didn't call him," Shia said.

"His cell phone rang," Kat said. "He said it was you."

"Basement, huh?" Shia said, to which Gavin and Kat nodded. Sharing a worried glance with Shia, Dean knelt and took another gun from the bag at his feet.

"All right. Watch yourselves," Dean said as he and Shia began walking away. "And watch out for us."

~••~ 

Down in the basement, Dean and Shia were now wondering round, looking for Sam.

"Sammy!" Shia called into the quiet emptiness.

"Sam, you down here?" Dean called. "Sam!"

"Sam!" Shia called again, louder, her and Dean turning to find Sam now stood inches away from them, making the pair jump back slightly.

"Damn it, honey, answer us when we're calling you," Shia yelled at him. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. I'm fine," Sam said.

"You know that wasn't me who called your cell, right?" Shia said.

"Yeah, I know," Sam said. "I think something lured me down here."

"I think I know who," Dean said. "Dr. Ellicott. That's what the other spirits have been trying to tell us. You haven't seen him, have you?"

"No," Sam lied easily. "How do you know it was him?"

"Because we found his log book," Shia said. "Apparently, he was experimenting on his patients. Some awful stuff. Makes lobotomies look like a couple of aspirin."

"But it was the patients who rioted," Sam said.

"Yeah, they were rioting against Dr. Ellicott," Dean said. "Dr. Feelgood was working on some sort of, like, extreme rage therapy. He thought that if he could get his patients to vent their anger, then they'd be cured of it. Instead, it only made them worse and worse, and angrier and angrier. So I'm thinking, what if his spirit is doing the same thing? To the cop. To the kids in the 70's. Making them so angry they become homicidal."

"Come on," Shia said, her and Dean walking past Sam. "We gotta find his bones and torch them."

"How?" Sam asked. "The police never found his body."

"The log book said he had some sort of hidden procedure room down here somewhere where he'd work on his patients," Shia said. "So…. I mean, if I was a patient, I'd drag his narrow ass down here, do a little work on 'im myself."

"I don't know," Sam said, not moving after them. "It sounds kind of…."

"Crazy?" Shia finished for him.

"Yeah," Sam said.

"Yeah, exactly," Dean said, walking through a door with the word 'bio-hazard' across, Shia following while he motioned for Sam to do the same. Sam, for a moment, just stared at them, the look in his eyes far from that of Sam.

Finally following them into the room, Sam found the pair searching round for the hidden room.

"I told you," Sam said. "I looked everywhere. I didn't find a hidden room."

"Well, that's why they call it hidden," Shia said as Dean's ears pricked up to another sound in the room. The sound of whistling air coming from behind one of the walls.

"You hear that?" Dean said.

"What?" Sam asked as Dean and Shia knelt beside one of the walls, Dean holding his hand against a crack along the bottom only to find just where the air was coming from.

"There's a door here," Dean said.

"Dean," Sam said, pointing the shotgun in his hand to the pair on their knees. Dean and Shia looked up to the barrel of the shotgun just as a trickle of blood ran from Sam's nose.

"Step back from the door," Sam said, wiping the blood away.

"Sam, put the gun down," Dean said, him and Shia getting to their feet.

"Is that an order?" Sam said.

"No, it's more of a friendly request," Shia said, taking a step towards Sam only to back up as he held the gun higher.

"Because I'm getting pretty tired of taking your orders," Sam said.

"I knew it," Dean said. "Ellicott did something to you, didn't he?"

"For once in your life, just shut your mouth," Sam said.

"I can't help but agree with him, Dean," Shia muttered to her boyfriend.

"Why are you agreeing with me?" Sam said, turning to her for the time. Or turning on her. "You usually jump through hoops to defend your pathetic boyfriend."

"Let's not go there, I'm not really in the mood right now," Shia said.

"What are you gonna do, Sam?" Dean said. "Guns filled with rock salt. Not gonna kill me."

In answer, Sam shot the gun, the non-fatal rock salt hitting Dean in the stomach and sending him flying through the closed door behind them, Shia rushing after him as he laid on his back.

"No. But it'll hurt like hell," Sam said, watching Shia as she tried to slap Dean awake.

"Dean! Dean!" she screamed out, starting to shake him as he woke, groaning in pain. Shia turned, kneeling by his side as Sam stood over the two of them.

"Sam! We gotta burn Ellicott's bones and all this'll be over," Dean groaned out. "You'll be back to normal."

"I am normal," Sam said. "I'm just telling the truth for the first time. I mean, why are we even here? Because you're following dad's orders like a goods little soldier? Because you always do what he says without question? Are you that desperate for his approval?"

"This isn't you talking, Sam," Dean tried.

"That's the difference between you and me," Sam continued. "I have a mind of my own. I'm not pathetic, like you."

"So, what are you gonna do, huh?" Dean said. "You gonna kill me?"

"You know what? I am sick of doing what you tell me to do," Sam said. "We're no closer to finding dad today then we were six months ago."

"Well, then here. Let me make it easier for you," Dean said, taking his gun from his jeans and holding it out to Sam. "Come on. Take it."

"Dean, what are you doing?" Shia said.

"Real bullets are gonna work a hell of a lot better than rock salt," Dean said to Sam.

"That's why you don't give your psychotic brother the gun," Shia said through gritted teeth, watching as thankfully, Sam hesitating. Maybe there was still a bit of Sam there.

"Take it!" Dean said, Sam doing just that and snatching the gun from Dean's hand, dropping Shia's hopes. He threw the useless shotgun aside, aiming the gun at Dean.

"You hate me that much?" Dean said. "You think you could kill your own brother? Then go ahead."

Sam, truly going for the hurt instead of the kill, turned the gun on Shia now, Shia backing away a little so she was now lay beside Dean.

"Sam, come on," she said almost desperately.

"So you're gonna shoot her now?" Dean said, his eyes still held on his brother. "Hurt the both of us by killing the one person we both care about. Go ahead, if you can."

"Dean, will you shut the hell up? He doesn't have a gun pointed at you," Shia said.

"Pull the trigger," Dean said, ignoring Shia beside him. But again, Sam hesitated. "Do it!"

As Dean's yell echoed, Sam pulled the trigger on the gun, Shia flinching slightly. The next sound that echoed around the room was the hammer clicking against the barrel of the gun.

Sam, confused, pulled the trigger again. But again all that happened was the barrel clicking. Grabbing Sam by the collar, Dean pulled him down and punched him, sending him backwards.

Getting to her feet, Shia turned and helped Dean up, the pair walking over to Sam.

"Man, I'm not gonna give you a loaded pistol," Dean said.

"I was scared out of my wits! You should have let me in on the damn plan! If I would have died, Bobby would've had your ass," Shia said, turning to Sam and knocking him out with a perfectly placed and waited kick.

"Sorry, Sammy," Shia said. Straightening his limbs again, Dean groaned in pain. "You okay?" Shia asked.

"Fine. You?" Dean replied.

"Great," Shia said. "Considering my best friend just tried to kill me."

"Well, let's find these bones, burn them, and get Sammy back," Dean said, him and Shia searching the room.

Shia held the shotgun while Dean held the flash, the pair knocking aside curtains and tables. Behind the two, the spirit of Sanford Ellicott swept behind them, Shia turning to slow to see him, but not to see the tuft of hair poking out of the side of a small cupboard. Grabbing Dean's attention, they moved to the cupboard, Dean opening it to find Ellicott's rotted body, the smell making the two cough and gag.

"Oh, that's fucking disgusting," Shia said as Dean went to work.

With the flashlight and his bag of tricks down beside him, Dean poured salt of the body, Shia standing back while he kept his hand covering the smell. Neither of them noticed the flashlight slowly flickering out behind them.

"Yeah, soak it up," Dean said as he poured lighter fluid over the body.

As the couple stood up, ready to finish the job, one of the operating table flew from the other side of the room, knocking them both in opposite directions. Her head hitting hard against the wall, Shia sat slightly dazed while Ellicott chose Dean to attacking, leaning over his body and taking hold of his head, electricity fizzing from his fingers like with Sam.

"Don't be afraid," Ellicott's spirit told Dean. "I'm going to help you. I'm going to make you all better."

Her head still pounding, Shia shook herself out of her daze and crawled forward, taking the lighter from Dean's bag and throwing the lit flame at Ellicott's rotted body. His body bursting into flames, Ellicott's spirit let go of Dean, his own body burning before his eyes as Shia scrambled towards Dean, the two backing.

Ellicott watched in horror and disbelief as his hands began to rot away, turning to ash in front of him. His arm round Shia at his side, Dean covered their bodies as Ellicott's rotting form dropped in front of them, shattering into ashes. Sitting up slightly and trying to catch their breathe, Dean and Shia turned as Sam came to, Ellicott's control over now his spirit was gone.

"You're not gonna try and kill me, are you?" Shia said to Sam.

"No," Sam said, massaging his aching jaw.

"Good," Dean said. "Because that would be awkward."

~••~ 

With Ellicott's spirit exorcised from the asylum, the five that were inside could now leave. Stood by their car, Sam, Dean and Shia said their goodbyes to the young teenage couple.

"Thanks, guys," Kat said sincerely.

"Yeah, thanks," Gavin added.

"No more haunted asylums, Okay?" Shia said. "And Gavin, take her out to see a movie or something. You know, like a normal boyfriend." With a small smile, Gavin and Kat walked back while Sam, Dean and Shia turned to leave in theirs.

"Hey, Dean," Sam said, stopping him before he got inside the car. "I'm sorry, man. You too, Shia. I said and did some awful things back there."

"You remember all that?" Shia said, smiling slightly at her friend.

"Yeah," Sam said. And at this, Shia portion of the conversation was over. She looked between the two brothers, seeing the different expressions on their faces, and climbed into the back of the car. What had happened in the asylum were issues that the brothers needed to sort out. She couldn't be the extra factor this time.

"It's like I couldn't control it," Sam said to Dean. "But I didn't mean it, any of it."

"You didn't, huh?" Dean said, something in the back of his mind telling him that wasn't exactly the truth.

"No, of course not," Sam said. All Dean did was nod slightly, an odd knowing look in his eyes. "Do we need to talk about this?"

"No," Dean said. "I'm not really in the sharing-and-caring kind of mood. I just wanna get some sleep."

Throwing his bag into the back beside Shia, Dean slid into the front seat of the car, pushing everything he truly wanted to say to the back of his mind for some other time far, far away. Just like he always did.

~••~

They stopped at a motel hours later, Shia and Dean waited outside while Sam got them a room.

"I thought you were going to let me die back there," Shia said leaning against Dean wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I wouldn't let anything bad happen to you, baby. You're special to me," Dean said giving her a light kiss on the lips.

"I was going to use my powers against Sam for a second, I didn't want to but if that gun was loaded....I could have hurt Sam. I feel like I'm just like the things we hunt," Shia told her boyfriend, he looked at her with a sad expression. How could she say that about herself?

"Baby, you listen to me. You're a very good person, one of the best people I know. You're not a monster, and never will be. Okay?" Dean said, Shia nodded and proceeded to give her boyfriend a long, passionate kiss.

Dean got his sleep as the trio relaxed in the motel room, Dean and Shia laid curled comfortable together as always. Not even the trilling of his cell phone could wake Dean or Shia. But it did wake Sam.

"Dean," he said sleepily, trying to wake his brother. Dean or Shia not even stirring slightly, Sam picked up the phone himself.

"Hello?" Sam said into the receiver. The voice that spoke on the other end woke Sam completely, his body reacting on hit's own as he sat upright.

"Dad?"


	10. SCARECROW (1x11)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Winchester brothers bicker once again, resulting in them going their "separate" ways. Shia and Dean battle against a scarecrow while Sam attempts to find John Winchester.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback is amazing! Kudos are awesome as well! :)

"Dancing slowly in an empty room  
Can the lonely take the place of you  
I sing myself a quiet lullaby  
Let you go and let the lonely in  
To take my heart again" – Christina Perri, The Lonely. 

~SCARECROW (1x11)~

~April 6th, 2006 (approximately 4:23 a.m.)~

On the table beside them, Dean's phone trilled into action, but Dean didn't wake to answer it. He simply stirred slightly, gripping tighter to Shia in his arms. Sam, however, was woken by the sound.

"Dean," he called to his brother, but still got no response. Reaching out, Sam answered the phone himself.

"Hello?" he said sleepily in the receiver.

In a payphone in California, John Winchester responded to his younger son's voice.

"Sam, is that you?" his dad answered, sleep now forgotten from Sam's mind as he sat bolt upright in his bed.

"Dad?" he said in shock. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine," John replied.

"We've been looking for you everywhere," Sam said softly. "We didn't know where you were, if you were okay."

"Sammy, I'm all right," John said. "What about you, Dean and Shia?"

"We're fine," Sam said, the pair behind him now beginning to wake. "Dad, where are you?"

"Sorry, kiddo, I can't tell you that."

"What? Why not?"

"Is that Dad?" Dean asked, him and Shia now sat up in their beds.

"Look, I know this is hard for you to understand," John said on the other end. "You're just gonna have to trust me on this."

"You're after it, aren't you?" Sam questioned. "The thing that killed Mom."

"Yeah. It's a demon, Sam."

"A demon? You know for sure?"

"A demon?" Dean questioned at the word. "What's he saying?"

"I do," John said to Sam, who was still ignoring his brother's questions. "Listen, Sammy, I, uh… I also know what happened to your girlfriend. I'm so sorry. I would've done anything to protect you from that."

"You know where it is?" Sam said.

"Yeah, I think I'm finally closing in on it."

"Let us help."

"You can't. You can't be any part of it."

"Why not?"

"Give me the phone," Dean said, holding out his hand.

"Listen, Sammy, that's why I'm calling," John said. "You, your brother and Shia, you gotta stop looking for me. Alright, now, I need you to write down these names."

"Names?" Sam questioned. "What names, Dad… talk to me, tell me what's going on."

"Look, we don't have time for this. This is bigger than you think, they're everywhere. Even us talking right now, it's not safe."

"No. Alright? No way."

"Give me the phone," Dean demanded again.

"I have given you an order," John said to his youngest. "Now, you stop following me, and you do your job. You understand me? Now, take down these names."

Giving up on asking, Dean snatched the phone from Sam, who simply let him.

"Dad, it's me," Dean said into the phone. "Where are you…? Yes, sir.… Uh, yeah, I got a pen. What are their names?"

From behind him, Dean failed to notice Shia sighing deeply and bowing her head, already seeing exactly what she saw every time Dean got around his father. Him falling into line.

~••~

After the conversation with their father, the brother's and Shia were now packed into the Impala, driving to where John had led them to.

"Alright," Sam said. "So, the names Dad gave us, they're all couples?"

"Three different couples," Dean said. "All went missing."

"And they're all from different towns? Different states?"

"That's right. You got Washington, New York, Colorado. Each couple took a road trip cross-country. None of them arrived at their destination, and none of them were ever heard from again."

"Well, it's a big country, Dean. They could've disappeared anywhere."

"Yeah, could've. But each one's route took 'em to the same part of Indiana. Always on the second week of April. One year after another after another."

"It's about to be the second week of April," Shia said from the back seat, playing with her hair.

"Yep," Dean told her.

"So, Dad is sending us to Indiana to go hunting for something before another couple vanishes?" Sam said.

"Yahtzee," Dean said, looking down at the information they had gotten from their father. "Can you imagine putting together a pattern like this? All the different obits Dad had to go through? The man's a master."

Clearly pissed to the max, Sam abruptly turned the car off to the side of the road and shut the engine off, making both Dean and Shia stare at him.

"What are you doing?" Dean asked.

"We're not going to Indiana," Sam stated.

"We're not?"

"No. We're going to California. Dad called from a payphone. Sacramento area code."

"Sam…." Dean began.

"Dean," Sam cut him off. "If this demon killed Mom and Jess, and Dad's closing in, we've gotta be there. We've gotta help."

"Dad doesn't want our help."

"I don't care."

"He's given us an order."

"I don't care. We don't always have to do what he says."

"Sam, Dad is asking us to work jobs, to save lives, it's important."

"Alright, I understand, believe me, I understand. But I'm talking one week here, man, to get answers. To get revenge."

"Alright, look, I know how you feel."

"Do you?" Sam said coldly, shocking his brother at the tone in his voice. "How old were you when Mom died? Four? Jess died six months ago. How the hell would you know how I feel?"

"Dad said it wasn't safe. For any of us. I mean, he obviously knows something that we don't, so if he says to stay away, we stay away."

"I don't understand the blind faith you have in the man. I mean, it's like you don't even question him."

"Yeah, it's called being a good son!" Dean yelled, his anger filling up. Hitting the last straw, Sam aggressively jumped out of the car, Dean following as he went to the trunk. Shia, looking out the window of her seat, sighed deeply and got out of the car.

"You're a selfish bastard, you know that?" Dean continued. "You just do whatever you want. Don't care what anybody thinks."

"That's what you really think?" Sam asked.

"Yes, it is."

"Well, then this selfish bastard is going to California," Sam said, hefting his backpack over his shoulder and turning to walk away.

"Come on, you're not serious," Dean called after him.

"I am serious," Sam yelled back.

"Boys, seriously," Shia piped up, trying to be the mediator as always, but knowing it was probably hopeless in this case. "This is stupid, we should just calm down."

"It's the middle of the night!" Dean yelled at his brother. "Hey, I'm taking off, I will leave your ass, you hear me?"

"Dean!" Shia yelled out, turning to him as Sam stopped and did the same.

"That's what I want you to do," Sam said.

"Sam, he didn't mean what he just said!" Shia called out, this time turning to him, watching as the two brothers stared each other down, waiting to see what the other would do. This was a game they played often. One usually without a winner.

"Goodbye, Sam," Dean said, closing the trunk and heading back to the car.

"No! What the hell?," Shia screamed to the both of them. "Sam, you can't do this."

"I've got to Shia," Sam told her. "I'm sorry."

"But…. Honey, we're meant to stick together," Shia said, getting desperate.

"Not this time," Sam said.

"Well what the hell am I supposed to do? The both of you are being stupid dicks, and we're breaking up our little group. We can't do that."

"Shia, I have to find my dad."

"But I can't just choose between my boyfriend and my best friend? It's not fair to me."

"And I'm not asking you to."

Shia stood where she was, no idea what she should do next. She looked between Sam and Dean, both of them stood either side of her but a bit apart. And neither was pleading with her, telling her she had to come with him. They were just waiting, letting her make her own decision. The problem was, the choice was and always had been already made. Sam is her best friend and she loved him so much….

But she loved Dean more.

With tears in her eyes, Shia turned to Sam, softly mouthing the words 'I'm sorry', before she turned and headed back to the Impala, silently slipping into the passenger seat while Dean got in beside her and drove off, Sam watching after them before walking his own way.

The opposite way.

~••~

On the road, Dean would glance at his girlfriend hoping she would say something. Shia didn't know what to say, she just chose her boyfriend over her best friend. Shia felt terrible but she had to be honest with herself, she loved Sam and Dean, but when it would come to choosing...who wouldn't choose their lover?

"Babe, I'm sorry. I was a dick, and I'm sorry. Will you talk to me now?" Dean said holding the steering wheel with one hand, the other hand was holding Shia's hand.

"What do you want me to say?" Shia asked.

"I just wanted to know that I didn't lose you or anything," Dean told her with a very charming smile.

"You can't get rid of me that easily, Dean Winchester," Shia leaned into her boyfriend, cuddling to his side while he was driving. Dean kissed the top of her head, he loved this girl so much....although he's never told her those three words.

~April 7th, 2006 (approximately 9:48 a.m.)~

Pulling up in Burkesville for the case, Shia was on her side of the car now in deep thought, while Dean pulled out his cellphone thinking if he should call Sam or not, snapping his phone shut, Dean made up his mind and shut off the engine, getting out of the car. The engine stopping and the car door slamming shut finally knocked Shia out of her trance, stepping out of the car and following Dean to a small café. Scotty's Café, with Scotty sat on the porch in front of it.

"Let me guess. Scotty," Dean said, gesturing up to the sign.

"Yep," Scotty said, glancing up at the sign above his head.

"Hi, my name's John Bonham and this is my girlfriend Cyndi Lauper," Dean began.

"Isn't that the drummer for Led Zeppelin and some pop singer?" Scotty asked interrupting Dean, shocking him a little.

"Wow. Good. Classic rock fan."

"What can I do for you, John?"

"I was wondering if, uh, you'd seen these people by chance," Dean said, handing two flyers to Scotty. They are missing person posters for Holly and Vince.

"Nope," Scotty said, looking down at them. "Who are they?"

"Friends of ours. They went missing about a year ago. They passed through somewhere around here, and I've already asked around Scottsburg and Salem…."

"Sorry," Scotty interrupted, handing the flyers back to Dean. "We don't get many strangers around here." Dean and Shia just nodded slightly.

"Scotty, you've got a smile that lights up a room, anybody ever tell you that?" Shia said with a bright smile of her own. Scotty just stared at her, not taking the bait.

"Never mind," Shia said with a small chuckle as her and Dean began to walk away. "See you around."

~••~

Dean and Shia stood in the general store showing their flyers to Harley and Stacey.

"You sure they didn't stop for gas or something?" Dean asked.

"Nope," Harley said as his wife shook her head. "Don't remember 'em. You said they were friends of yours?"

"That's right," Dean said just as Emily came out from the back carrying a load of boxes.

"Did the guy have a tattoo?" Emily asked.

"Yes, he did," Dean said, looking down at the picture of Vince, where you could clearly see the tattoo on his arm, before handing it to Emily.

"You remember?" Emily said to her aunt and uncle. "They were just married."

"You're right," Harley said, suddenly remembering. "They did stop for gas. Weren't here more than ten minutes."

"Do you remember anything else?" Shia asked.

"I told 'em how to get back to the Interstate. They left town," Harley said.

"Could you point us in that same direction?" Shia said.

"Sure," Harley said.

Going by Harley's directions, Dean and Shia were now driving down Orchard Road.

"Dean, babe, aren't you a little worried or something?" Shia asked Dean.

"About what?" he replied.

"Whatever this thing is, it seems to have a liking for couples. Now, if you and Sam were investigating this, there wouldn't be a problem. But, it's you and me. Perfect targets. Male and a hot female."

"Shia, after everything you and me have faced, I think we can take on whatever this is. And I'm sure it's hot male and hot female."

"You better be right, because I don't like the idea of dying in Hicksville, Indiana."

"Burkesville," Dean corrected her.

"Whatever," Shia muttered, making Dean laugh slightly. Just as the car came past the orchard, a noise emitted from the back seat.

"What the hell?" Dean muttered, pulling over the car while Shia dug through the bag in the back. She came back with the EMF meter, beeping frantically. Seems they had found whatever they were looking for, and it was in the orchard.

Getting out of the car, the pair explored further, walking through the orchard.

"You know, I think Sam was right about a couple of things back there," Dean suddenly said.

"Things like what?" Shia said, not willing to start an argument by saying yeah, she agreed with Sam and what he said about Dean and his father.

"Like when he said I don't know what he's going through," Dean said, ducking his head slightly as if embarrassed by his sudden show of emotions. "I don't. I mean, his girlfriend was murdered in front of him. That's gotta hurt."

"Yeah, but you went through the same deal with Mary," Shia said.

"I can hardly remember that," Dean said. "Sam's pain is still there. I mean, I've just got you, and you're still here. Something I'm very thankful for by the way. I'd rather not lose you just yet."

"You won't," Shia said with a smiling, leaning up to kiss him. When she pulled back, she kept her hand laced through Dean's as the pair continued walking.

A little further in, they walked past the scarecrow who, in the light of day, was securely on his post.

"Now, I'm not scared of many things-," Shia started motioning to the scarecrow.

"Liar." Dean said interrupting Shia.

"What do you mean "Liar"? I'm not scared of many things,"

"Baby, you're scared of dolls, clowns, water, cemeteries...."

"At least I'm not scared of planes,"

"Yeah, whatever." Dean said, Shia smiled at him. Well, reminding him of the time we were on a plane is one way to shut him up.

"Dude, you fugly," Dean muttered to the scarecrow. Noticing a pattern on his arm, Dean took a ladder from a nearby tree and held it against the post.

"What are you doing?" Shia asked.

"Just hold the ladder," Dean told her. With a roll of her eyes at his tone, Shia did as he requested and held the Shia of the ladder while Dean climbed up it. Moving aside the scarecrows robe, Dean looked closer at the design. It was a tattoo, and one he recognized.

Taking out the flyer from his pocket, Dean compared the tattoo on the scarecrows arm to Vince's. it was exactly the same.

"Nice tat," Dean said to the scarecrow before turning to Shia. "Recognize this?"

He moved aside slightly, holding the picture beside the scarecrows are for her to compare them. Shia sighed, exchanging a glance with Dean as both of them were coming to the same conclusion.

~••~

Up in the town, Emily was outside in the garage when Dean and Shia pulled up again.

"You're back," Emily said with a bright smile.

"Never left," Dean replied.

"Still looking for your friends?" she asked. Dean nodded, the nameplate around Emily's neck catching his eye. Well, at least a name would make things a little more formal and polite now.

"You mind fillin' her up there, Emily?" Dean said. The young girl happily obliged, grabbing a pump and filling Dean's car with gas.

"So, you grew up here?" Dean asked.

"I came here when I was thirteen," Emily told them. "I lost my parents. Car accident. My aunt and uncle took me in."

"They're nice people," Shia said with a slightly sarcastic smile.

"Everybody's nice here," Emily said.

"So, what, it's the, uh, perfect little town?" Shia replied.

"Well, you know, it's the boonies. But I love it," Emily said with a small smile of her own. "I mean, the towns around us, people are losing their homes, their farms. But here, it's almost like we're blessed."

"Hey, you been out to the orchard?" Dean asked, changing the subject after a slight nod. "You seen that scarecrow?"

"Yeah, it creeps me out," Emily said, making Dean and Shia laugh slightly.

"Whose is it?" Dean asked.

"I don't know. It's just always been there," Emily said. Nodding behind Emily, Shia motioned to the red van parked in the garage.

"That your aunt and uncle's?" she asked Emily.

"Customer," Emily said. "Had some car troubles."

"It's not a couple, is it?" Shia asked. "A guy and a girl?"

"Mmhmm," Emily said with a nod, a look of concern now crossing over Dean and Shia's faces.

~••~

In Scotty's café in Burkitsville, the young couple whose van broke down were sat at a table, Scotty serving them each a plate of apple pie.

"We're famous for our apples. So, you gotta try this pie," Scotty told them.

"Oh, no," the woman said. "It… please."

"It's on the house," Scotty said as the bell on the door rang and Dean and Shia walked into the café.

"Oh, hey, Scotty," Dean said cheerily. "Can I get a coffee, black?"

"Make that two," Shia called after Scotty as he walked away.

"Oh, and some of that pie, too, while you're at it," Dean yelled as he and Shia sat at a table beside the couple.

"How ya doin'?" Dean said to the couple, who waved and smiled their way. "Just passing through?"

"Road trip," the girl told them.

"Hm. Yeah, us too," Shia said. The couple gave a small nod as Scotty walked over to their table to refill their drinks.

"I'm sure these people want to eat in peace," Scotty said to Dean and Shia.

"Just a little friendly conversation," Dean said, Scotty again walking off with an agitated look. "Oh, and those coffees, too, man. Thanks."

"So, what brings you to town?" Shia asked the couple.

"We just stopped for gas," the girl said. "And, uh, the guy at the gas station saved our lives."

"Is that right?" Dean said.

"Yeah, one of our brake lines was leaking," the guy said. "We had no idea. He was fixing it for us."

"Nice people," Shia said for the second time today.

"Yeah," the guy agreed.

"So, how long till you're up and running?" Shia asked.

"Sundown," the man answered.

"Really, to fix a brake line?" Shia asked, to which the guy nodded. "I mean, you know, my boyfriend knows a thing or two about cars. He could probably have you up and running in about an hour, and wouldn't charge you anything."

"You know, thanks a lot, but I think we'd rather have a mechanic do it," the girl said.

"Sure. We know," Dean said, pausing slightly and thinking just how to say the next line.

"You know, it's just that these roads. They're not real safe at night," Dean continued, making the couple exchange a look

"I'm sorry?" the girl said.

"I know it sounds strange, but, uh… you might be in danger," Dean said.

"Look, we're trying to eat. Okay?" the guy said.

"Yeah," Shia said, wondering what the hell they could say now to convince them while the couple just threw worried glances their way.

"You know," Dean began again. "My brother could give you this puppy dog look, and you'd just buy right into it."

The bell above the café door jingled again, signalling that someone was walking in. Someone Scotty was expecting as he came out from the back.

"Thanks for coming, Sheriff," Scotty said, Dean and Shia looking up nervously as Scotty muttered something to the Sheriff they couldn't hear.

"Great," Shia said softly as the Sheriff walked over to them.

"I'd like a word, please," the Sheriff told them.

"Come on," Dean groaned out. "We're having a bad day already."

"You don't wanna make it worse," the Sheriff said so only they could hear.

~••~

And the Sheriff's way to make all this better was for Dean and Shia to leave town with an armed escort, turning back into town once the 'Now Leaving Burkesville' sign flashed past the window.

Dean and Shia, as a couple, were far too alike. Anyone could see that. And neither had much of a liking for the law, or lived their lives by rules.

Which is why, once night rolled in, the pair were on the interstate, making their way back into Burkitsville.

Already in Burkesville, the young couple who Dean and Shia had unintentionally scared at the café were now wandering through the orchard, their car broken down on the side of the road.

"I can't believe it. We just got the car fixed," the girl mumbled.

"This way," the guy said to her, walking further into the orchard. What neither noticed was the scarecrow, off his post, running quickly behind them. The girl did, however, did sense, turning round with a gasp.

"Steve?" she said, gripping onto the boyfriend's arm when they heard another noise.

"Who's there?" Steve yelled into the clearing. Getting nothing in return, he turned, only to come face to face with the scarecrow, slithering out from behind the trees and walking towards them. Without a second's hesitation, the pair turned and ran into the opposite direction, almost at the clearing when something, or someone else came out in front of them. Dean and Shia.

"Get back to your car," Shia told them. The couple didn't move, but simple turned, watching as the scarecrow got closer to them.

"Go! Go!" Shia screamed at them again. This time they ran, leaving Dean and Shia to take care of the living, walking scarecrow.

Cocking his shotgun, Dean aimed at shot of rock salt at the scarecrow, hitting him dead in the chest. The scarecrow stumbled, but didn't fall, still advancing on them. Dean and Shia began running backwards now, Dean still shooting at the scarecrow. Two more shots and it still did nothing.

"I really don't think that's working Dean!" Shia screamed at him as they caught up with the couple. Dean couldn't help but agree.

"Go! Go!" he screamed at the couple, the four now running and finally making it out of the orchard, stood just outside of the gates. Turning, Dean's shotgun up just as a precaution, the saw the scarecrow had already vanished. It seemed they were safe outside of the orchard gates.

"What… what the hell was that?" Steve stammered out.

"Don't ask," Dean and Shia said in unison.

~••~

~April 8th, 2006 (approximately 12:43 p.m.)~

Some time later the next day, different area codes, Sam was sitting in the bus station. Meg, a girl he met on the way, asleep on the floor nearby. The phone call that had been edging towards what happened was now in process, Sam on the phone with Shia who was sitting beside Dean in the driving seat of the Impala.

"The scarecrow climbed off its cross?" Sam repeated after Shia had told him everything.

"Yeah," Shia said. "I'm telling ya. Burkesville, Indiana. Fun Town."

"It didn't kill the couple, did it?" Sam asked.

"No. We can cope without you, you know," Shia joked.

"So, something must be animating it. A spirit."

"No, it's more than a spirit. It's a God. A Pagan God, anyway."

"What makes you say that?"

"The annual cycle of its killings? And the fact that the victims are always a man and a woman. Like some kind of fertility right. And you should see the locals. The way they treated this couple. Fattenin' 'em up like a Christmas turkey."

"The last meal. Given to sacrificial victims."

"Yeah, we're thinking a ritual sacrifice to appease some Pagan God."

"So, a God possesses the scarecrow..." Sam began.

"And the scarecrow takes its sacrifice," Shia finished. "And for another year, the crops won't wilt, and disease won't spread."

"Do you know which god you're dealing with?"

"No, not yet."

"Well, you figure out what it is, you can figure out a way to kill it."

"I know. We're actually on our way to a local community college. We've got an appointment with a professor. You know, since we don't have our trusty sidekick geek boy to do all the research," Shia said, making Sam laugh slightly. Beside her, Shia noticed Dean holding out his hand, motioning for the phone.

"Hold up. Dean wants to speak," Shia said, passing the phone to Dean.

"Hey bro," Dean said into the receiver.

"Hey," Sam replied. "You know, if you guys are hinting you need my help, just ask."

"We're not hinting anything. Actually, uh… I want you to know…. I mean, don't think…." Dean stuttered out, making Shia smile slightly, although she hid it. She knew Dean well enough to know what he was trying to say, and just how hard it was for him. Luckily, she knew Sam as well, and knew he would get the message from his brother loud and clear.

"Yeah. I'm sorry, too," Sam said, proving Shia right and understanding completely what his brother was trying to tell him.

"Sam. You were right. You gotta do your own thing. You gotta live your own life."

"Are you serious?"

"You've always known what you want. And you go after it. You stand up to Dad. And you always have. Hell, I wish I…. Anyway… I admire that about you. I'm proud of you, Sammy."

"I don't even know what to say."

"Say you'll take care of yourself."

"I will."

"Call me when you find Dad," Dean said.

"OK. Bye, Dean," Sam said. Just like she had, Dean placed the phone back into Shia's outstretched hand.

"Sam?" Shia said to him.

"Yeah," Sam said.

"Keep in touch. Phone whenever you can. I mean it," Shia said, making Sam laugh again. The tone in her voice, the slight joke to her words, made him realize how much he was gonna and already was missing her. Both of them.

"Of course," Sam replied. "Bye, hun."

"Bye Sammy," she said as she hung up, going back to her vigil of staring blankly out of the window, missing her surrogate little brother more now she knew he was gone for good.

~••~

At the Burkesville community college, Dean and Shia were with the professor for their appointment.

"It's not every day I get a research question on Pagan ideology," the professor told them.

"Yeah, well, call it a hobby," Dean said.

"But you said you were interested in local lore?" the professor asked.

"Mmhmm," Dean replied.

"I'm afraid Indiana isn't really known for its Pagan worship."

"Well, what if it was imported? You know, like the Pilgrims brought their religion over. Wasn't a lot of this area settled by immigrants?"

"Well, yeah."

"Like that town near here, Burkitsville. Where are their ancestors from?"

"Uh, northern Europe, I believe, Scandinavia."

"What could you tell us about those Pagan Gods?" Shia finally spoke up.

"Well, there are hundreds of Norse Gods and Goddesses," the professor told her.

"We're actually looking for one. Might live in an orchard," Shia said. With this information, the professor took the pair into his classroom, opening a large book in front of them.

"Woods God, hm? Well, let's see," he said, flicking through the pages. Two pages in, he came to a picture of what looked like a scarecrow tied to a post in a farmers field.

"Wait, wait, wait," Dean said, stopping the professor's flicking fingers. "What's that one?"

"Oh, that's not a woods God, per se," the professor said.

"The V… Vanir?" Dean stumbled out, reading from the book. The professor nodded, so he carried on reading. "The Vanir were Norse gods of protection and prosperity, keeping the local settlements safe from harm. Some villages built effigies of the Vanir in their fields. Other villages practiced human sacrifice. One male, and one female. Kind of looks like a scarecrow, huh?"

"I suppose," the professor said.

"This particular Vanir, it's energy sprung from the sacred tree?" Dean said.

"Well, Pagans believed all sorts of things were infused with magic," the professor told them.

"So what would happen if the sacred tree was torched?" Shia said. "You think it'd kill the god?"

"Guys, these are just legends we're discussing," the professor said with a small laugh.

"Oh, of course," Shia stammered out, trying to cover up and holding out her hand for the professor to shake. "Yeah, you're right. Listen, thank you very much."

"Glad I could help," the professor said, shaking Dean's hand as well before the couple turned to leave. As they opened the class room door to leave, the first thing they saw were the sheriff and Scotty before they were knocked to the ground by the butts of their riffles, out cold before their bodies hit the floor.

~April 9th, 2006 (approximately 5:14 p.m.)~

Dean and Shia had finally woken up, but they had found themselves alone in a cellar, both with killer headaches.

Since they had woken up, they had been trying to figure an escape plan. That was until the cellar door had been opened. Looking up they saw Emily, tears streaming down her face, being held between her aunt and uncle.

"Aunt Stacy. Uncle Harley, please," Emily begged as she was roughly dragged downstairs and stood next to Dean and Shia. "Why are you doing this?"

"For the common good," her Aunt Stacey answered as she closed the cellar door again, leaving Dean, Shia and now Emily in the dark again.

In the cellar, Dean was trying to break his way out of the door, unsuccessfully, while Shia and Emily watched from the bottom of the stairs.

"I don't understand," Emily said, going over everything Dean and Shia had told her again. "They're gonna kill us?"

"Sacrifice us. Which is, I don't know, classier, I guess?" Shia said as Dean walked back over to them. "I still don't know why they need you. I mean, I am a woman. Not unless they think he'd want more than one since he missed his meal." 

The young girl gasped. Dean looked at Shia, giving her a look that told her she was being a little insensitive.

"You really didn't know anything about this, did you?" Dean asked Emily, going for a softer tone than his girlfriend. 

"About what? The scarecrow God?" Emily cried out in disbelief. "I can't believe this."

"Well, you better start believing, cause we're gonna need your help," Shia told her, wanting to be sensitive, but really needing to knock this girl back to reality if they were gonna get out of this.

"Okay," Emily said softly.

"Now, we can destroy the scarecrow, but we gotta find the tree," Dean said.

"What tree?" Emily asked.

"Maybe you can help us with that," Dean said. "It would be really old. The locals would treat it with a lot of respect, you know, like it was sacred."

"There was this one apple tree," Emily said, everything starting to click slowly into place. "The immigrants brought it over with them. They call it the First Tree."

"Is it in the orchard?" Shia asked.

"Yeah, but I don't know where," Emily said. Before they could ask more, the cellar door swung open, Harley, Stacey, Scotty and the sheriff stood in front of them.

"It's time," Stacey said. All Dean, Shia and Emily could do was exchange a nervous glance, the shotguns aimed their way stopping them from making a quick escape.

Making sure their victims couldn't escape, Harley, Stacey, Scotty and the Sheriff tied Dean, Shia and Emily to two trees in the orchard.

"How many people have you killed, Sheriff?" Dean asked him as he tied his hands together. "How much blood is on your hands?"

"We don't kill them," the Sheriff answered.

"No, but you sure cover up after," Shia said as she was tied beside Dean, their hands locked together. "I mean, how many cars have you hidden, clothes have you buried?"

The Sheriff had no answer for them this time. He just walked away, letting Harley and Stacey finish tying Emily to the other tree.

"Uncle Harley, please," Emily sobbed.

"I am so sorry, Em," Harley told her. "I wish it wasn't you."

"Try to understand. It's our responsibility," Stacey said. "And there's just no other choice. There's nobody else but you."

"I'm your family," Emily told her.

"Sweetheart, that's what sacrifice means. Giving up something you love for the greater good," Stacey said, tears now springing to her eyes. "The town needs to be safe. The good of the many outweighs the good of the one."

With that final statement, the four walked away from their sacrifices.

"I hope your apple pie is freakin' worth it!" Dean screamed after them.

"So, what's the plan?" Emily asked, calming down a little.

"I'm workin' on it," Dean said.

However, hours later, once darkness had fallen, they were still tied in the same positions.

"You don't have a plan, do you?" Emily said.

"I'm workin' on it," Dean said yet again.

"Please. 'I'm working on it' my ass," Shia muttered out from beside him.

"You're not helping, Shia," Dean groaned. "Can't you bust us out of here, superwoman?" 

"You think I haven't tried that already?!" 

"Can you see?" Dean asked Emily, ignoring Shia's rhetorical question.

"What?" Emily asked.

"Is he moving yet?" Dean asked.

"I can't see," Emily said craning her neck. That statement was soon questioned as she did see something. A shadow moving their way through the trees.

"Oh my God. Oh my God!" Emily sobbed out. Hearing the fear and panic in her voice, Dean and Shia pulled harder on their ropes, trying to free themselves to no avail. It didn't matter though, because the shadow was now standing beside them.

And it was Sam.

"Dean? Shia?" he said, the pair breathing a heavy sigh of relief.

"Oh! Oh, I take everything back I said. I'm so happy to see you," Dean said as Sam began to untie them. "Come on."

"How in the hell did you get here?" Shia asked, not that it really mattered how right now.

"I, uh…. I stole a car," Sam answered almost nervously.

"Ha ha! That's my boy!" Dean said as Sam finished untying them. "And keep an eye on that scarecrow. He could come alive any minute."

"What scarecrow?" Sam said. Now free from their ties, Dean and Shia jumped to their feet to see the scarecrow post already empty. Too late.

Making quick work of the ropes round Emily's wrist, the four now started running quickly through the orchard, eager to get out of here before the scarecrow came jumping out of the shadows.

"Alright, now, this sacred tree you're talking about…." Sam started.

"It's the source of its power," Shia explained.

"So let's find it and burn it," Sam said.

"Nah, in the morning," Dean said. "Let's just shag ass before Leather Face catches up."

But they didn't get too far as they ran into a clearing and came face to face with townspeople and shotguns aimed their way.

"This way," Dean said, turning the group in the opposite direction. But it was no use. They were surrounded from all angles.

"Please. Let us go," Emily begged of her aunt and uncle.

"It'll be over quickly, I promise," Harley told her.

"Please," Emily continued to beg.

"Emily, you have to let him take you. You have to…."

Harley's words were quickly cut off as the elusive scarecrow appeared behind him, piercing his sickle through his stomach while at the same time capturing a screaming Stacey and dragging them away. Emily herself screamed, turning and running into the nearest pair of arms, which happened to be Dean's.

Not wanting to be the next victims, the rest of the townspeople ran, fleeing in fright.

"Come on, let's go," Dean said, the four of the running for the exit now they could. Turning once they were out of the gates, the group found nothing but empty space and silence. The scarecrow, along with Harley and Stacey, was long gone.

~April 10th, 2006 (approximately 9:37 a.m.)~

Next morning, Sam, Dean, Shia and Emily were ready to get this over and done with for good. With gasoline and a lighter, they stood in front of the sacred tree Emily had led them to. While Sam poured gasoline over the trees surface, Shia picked up a long branch from the floor, Dean lighting the end.

"Let me," Emily said, reaching out to take the branch from Shia.

"You know, the whole town's gonna die, right?," Shia told her.

"Good," Emily said, throwing the lit branch onto the tree, standing back with the trio as the tree, as well as the towns future, burnt to the ground, leaving nothing but ashes.

With no home and no family left, Emily was now prepared to make it on her own. Climbing onto a bus for Boston, Emily turned one last time, looking out of the window at Sam, Dean and Shia watching her leave. Taking her seat on the bus as it drove off, Emily smiled a thankful smile at Dean and Shia, a small wave from both of them given in return being the last thing she saw.

"Think she's gonna be alright?" Sam asked.

"I hope so," Dean replied.

"And the rest of the townspeople, they'll just get away with it?" Sam said.

"Well, what'll happen to the town will have to be punishment enough," Shia told him.

"So, can I drop you off somewhere?" Dean asked Sam as they walked back towards the car.

"No, I think you're stuck with me," Sam said as they stopped beside the car. The next thing he knew, Shia had jumped into his arms, a wide smile plastered across her face as she hugged him tightly.

"What made you change your mind?" Dean asked.

"I didn't. I still wanna find Dad. And you're still a pain in the ass," Sam said, dropping Shia to her feet again as Dean nodded. "But, Jess and Mom… they're both gone. Dad is God knows where. Us three. We're all that's left. So, if we're gonna see this through, we're gonna do it together."

For a second, there was a pause between the three, Dean staring up at Sam.

"Hold me, Sam. That was beautiful," he replied sarcastically, placing his hand against Sam's shoulder. Sam just pushed him away, the three laughing as they starting climbing back into the car.

"You should be kissing my ass," Sam said. "You were dead meat, dude."

"Yeah, right. I had a plan, I'd have gotten out," Dean said.

"Right. That would be what, the tenth time you've said 'I had a plan'? We were going to die, Dean." Shia said smirking at Dean, with a small laugh, Sam followed the two into the car, things are how they should be again.


	11. FAITH (1x12)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bad decision puts Dean in the hospital. Sam and Shia try to find a way to get Dean better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and Comments are welcomed! :)

"I'm so tired of being hereSuppressed by all my childish fearsAnd if you have to leaveI wish that you would just leave'Cause your presence still lingers hereAnd it won't leave me alone  
These wounds won't seem to heal, this pain is just too realThere's just too much that time cannot erase  
When you cried, I'd wipe away all of your tearsWhen you'd scream, I'd fight away all of your fearsAnd I held your hand through all of these yearsBut you still have all of me" – Evanescence, My Immortal. 

~FAITH (1x12)~ 

~April 24, 2006 (approximately 11:46 a.m.)~ 

On their latest hunt, Sam, Dean and Shia found themselves in front of an abandoned house in the middle of nowhere. Inside was a monster, a rawhead, who had taken two young children. And it was their job to get them back.

Taking out the demon the only way they knew how, Dean pulled three tasers out of the trunk.

"What do you got those amped up to?" Sam asked as Dean handed one each to him and Shia.

"A hundred thousand volts," Dean answered.

"Damn, pretty high," Shia said.

"Yeah, I want this rawhead extra frickin' crispy. And remember, you only get one shot with these things. So make it count," Dean told them as he made his way into the house, before he did Shia grabbed his arm. Dean turned to look at her.

"What, babe? Is something wrong?" Dean asked giving his girlfriend a concerned look.

"Just be careful, Dean. I have a bad feeling about this," Shia said before heading into house, this time Dean grabbed her arm. "What, Dean?" Dean pulled her close as he leaned in to press his lips against hers.

"I'm always careful, baby."

"Would you guys come on already?" Sam asked, Dean and Shia smiled at each other and walked over to Sam.

~••~ 

Walking cautiously down the stairs, guns and flashlight high in front of them, a noise knocked all their attention to a small cupboard.

"On three," Dean whispered to the other two. "One. Two. Three."

Pulling the cupboard roughly open, the trio came face to face with two very scared kids, cowering in the tight space.

"Is it still here?" Sam asked, to which the children merely nodded, unable to speak since fear had their tongues.

"Okay. Grab your sister's hand," Shia said softly to the little boy. "Come on, we gotta get you out of here. Let's go, let's go."

Gently pushing the children in front of them, Sam, Dean and Shia led them towards the stairs.

"Alright, go!" Shia called to them, watching as the pair starting to flee up the stairs. Sam, who wasn't too far behind them, didn't get any closer to the exit himself as a hand snaked through the railing of the stairs, grabbing his leg and dragging him back down.

"Sam!" Shia screamed out as she moved to the other side of the staircase, coming face to face with the rawhead and shooting immediately. The monster, however, had seen it coming and ducked out of the way, Shia's missing her one and only shot.

"Guys, get 'em outta here!" Dean yelled, motioning up to the kids.

"You take this!" Sam called back, throwing his tazer, which Shia easily caught, dropping her useless one. Shia allowed Sam to pass her, wanting him see the kids safely outside. Dean and Shia were left to take down this monster.

"Come on," he called into the basement, his flashlight flicking over box after box after... demon!

As his flashlight beam illuminated the creature's features, Dean aimed his gun, but not quick enough. Before Dean could get a shot off, the demon flew at him, flinging him across the room where he landed in a puddle of water in the corner.

Coming up the other side, Shia took her own shot at the demon again. The demon, however, was already charging at her. Her aim on a fast moving object not perfect, Shia's second shot missed, the creature knocking her aside as it made it's way to Dean. She was merely a distraction.

Seeing the creature loam over him, Dean scrambled for the only working gun, taking aim at the creature. But he failed to see what Shia did.

The creature was standing in the same puddle of water Dean was lay in.

"Dean, no!" Shia screamed to him, but it was too late. Dean had taken his shot and hit, electrocuting the demon. The high current flowed through the creature, into the puddle... and into Dean.

While the creature collapsed to the floor, dead, Dean twitched and shuddered against the heavy flow of electricity working it's way through his body.

"Dean!" Shia screamed out again, running across the room as her boyfriend fell into unconsciousness.

The kids safe upstairs, Sam chose now to run back into the basement, seeing the sight before him. Dean unconscious in a puddle of water with Shia at his side, barely able to control her tears.

"Dean!" Sam cried out as he dropped to the floor by their side. "Dean, hey. Hey."

Sam shook his brother, trying to bring him to, but it wasn't working.

"What happened?" Sam asked a now near hysterical Shia.

"The rawhead," Shia sobbed out through her shaking and tears. "Dean shot it with the taser but it backfired, traveled through the water. I tried to stop him but...."

"Shia, its okay," Sam said softly, trying to calm her down some. "Calm down. We just gotta get him to a hospital."

All Shia could do was nod, wipe at her tears, and hope to God Sam was right. She couldn't lose her boyfriend, he means so much to her.

~••~

After piling Dean into the car and breaking every known speed limit, Sam and Shia had taken Dean to the nearest hospital. And, having to take care of the frightened children as well, a shaken Shia was stood in front of two police officers, her arms wrapped tightly around herself, while Sam stood at the reception desk, sorting out Dean's admittance.

"Sir, I'm so sorry to ask. There doesn't seem to be any insurance on file," the receptionist told him.

"Right. Uh, okay," Sam said distractedly, taking a card from his wallet and handing it to her.

"Okay, Mr. Burkovitz," the receptionist said with a smile. Sam tried his best to smile in response as he moved away from her, standing by Shia and the officer. Seeing the way Shia was stood, Sam slipped his arm around her comfortingly, pulling her into his side.

"Look, we can finish this up later," the officer said, like Sam, obviously seeing the distraught state Shia was in.

"No, no, it's okay," Sam said, wanting to get through the story as quick as possible. "We were just taking a shortcut through the neighborhood. And, um, the windows were rolled down, we heard some screaming. We drove past the house, and we stopped. Ran in."

"And you found the kids in the basement?" the officer asked.

"Yeah," Sam answered.

"Well, thank God you did," the officer said. Behind him, Sam noticed Dean's doctor making his way towards them.

"Excuse me," Sam said to the officers.

"Sure. Thanks for your help," the officer said as Sam led Shia over to the doctor.

"Hey, Doc. Is he...." Sam said.

"He's resting," the doctor finished for him

"And?" Sam said, urging him to continue.

"The electrocution triggered a heart attack," the doctor said. "Pretty massive, I'm afraid. His heart... it's damaged."

"How damaged?" Sam asked.

"We've done all we can," the doctor said, his tone showing pure sympathy for them. "We can try and keep him comfortable at this point. But, I'd give him a couple weeks, at most, maybe a month."

"What? No. No. Oh God No.," Shia muttered, uttering her first words since they had entered the hospital, her tears now flowing freely as she buried herself against Sam's chest, his arms wrapping around her.

"There's... there's gotta be something you can do," Sam said, pushing back his own tears. "Some kind of treatment."

"We can't work miracles. I really am sorry," the doctor said, leaving the two stood in the hallway, Shia sobbing in his arms and letting her tears flow freely while Sam adamantly kept his trapped behind his eyes. This time, it was his turn to be the strong brother, if not for the sake of his own sanity.

~••~

In his own private hospital room, Dean was sat with the remote in hand, flicking through the channels of daytime TV. When Sam and Shia came in, and he looked up at him, Sam's battle against tears almost ended. The guy laying in that bed did not look like his brother. He wasn't strong and full of life anymore, but the total opposite. He was pale and drawn, dark circles under his eyes. 

Shia's strangled sob told Sam the same thoughts were running through her head. She had calmed down slightly, stopped crying, but Sam knew she could start again any minute. And he didn't blame her.

"Have you ever actually watched daytime TV?" Dean said once they entered, trying to lighten the mood as always. "It's terrible."

"We talked to your doctor," Sam said with a sigh.

"That fabric softener teddy bear. Oh, I'm gonna hunt that little bitch down," Dean continued, adamantly ignoring Sam.

"Dean," Sam said again, making sure he couldn't ignore him anymore as he looked up at them.

"Yeah," Dean said, turning off the TV. "Alright, well, looks like you guys are gonna leave town without me."

"What are you talking about?" Sam said. "We're not gonna leave you here."

"Hey, you guys better take care of that car," Dean continued in his joke filled manner. "Or, I swear, I'll haunt your asses. And Sam, you take care of my girl. You two should get married and carry on the Winchester name. Make sure to name your first son after me."

"It's not funny, asshole," Shia said, wanting to bust into full out tears with each word Dean said, or each stupid joke he made at his own expensiveness, when all Shia wanted was his reassurance. For him to tell her this was nothing, that he was gonna be fine and they would be on the road as a group again in no time.

"Oh, come on, it's a little funny," Dean told her, a thick silence now hanging in the air between them. "Look, what can I say?" Dean continued, the jokes going out of the window at the looks on his brother and girlfriend's faces. "It's a dangerous gig. I drew the short straw. That's it, end of story."

"Don't talk like that, alright?" Sam said. "We still have options."

"What options?" Dean said, beginning to get a little angry with the two for not understanding. "Yeah, burial or cremation."

"Wonderful," Shia said, the new tears she had been so strongly pushing aside springing back to the front. "You know I hate you right now...."

Not needing Dean to see her cry right now, Shia ran from the room before the sobbing took over her body, Sam and Dean's eyes on her the whole time. Dean had seen the look in her eyes when she had ran, even though she tried to hide it from him. And the minute he had the hurt and sadness on her face, he immediately regretted his words.

"She took the words right out of my mouth," Sam said, turning back to his brother, his own voice beginning to take on a hint of anger now. Dean continued to stare at the door for a second longer, as if staring that intently would make Shia walk back through it without those horrible tears he had caused behind her eyes.

"Look," Dean said, his voice a little softer now. "I know it's not easy. But I'm gonna die. And you guys can't stop it."

"Watch us," Sam said, sweeping out of the door after Shia. And if he hadn't stopped abruptly, he probably would have tripped over her. She was sat on the floor, her head in her knees to capture the tears.

"Shia?" he said softly, making her look up at him with the tears still streaming down her face.

"How can he be such a dick about it, Sam?" she said to him. "He's dying. And he's right. What can we do to save him?"

Watching her break gently again, Sam sat on the floor beside her, pulling her closer to him and letting her cry in his arms again.

"I'll find a way to save him. I promise," Sam whispered to her after a minute, adamant that he would do it. He pulled away slightly, making Shia look up at him. "I'm going back to the motel. What do you want to do?"

"I wanna stay here with him, I need to talk to him," she said softly.

"Okay," Sam said, pressing a gentle kiss on his best friend's forehead, the only woman in the world both brothers would always care about and do practically anything for. With a comforting smile her way, Sam left the hospital, leaving Shia in exactly the same position.

For a moment, Shia stayed where she was. What exactly was she gonna do if she walked back in that room?

One of the reasons she wasn't jumping up to go back in that room with him, alone, was because she couldn't see him like that again. 

This was Dean Winchester, the guy despite everything that had happened in his family, had always stood strong. He had always been there for Shia, ready to save her life or pick her up when she was down. And now, in a month's time, Shia wasn't gonna have that anymore. He'd be gone, and she honestly didn't know just how well she'd cope without him by her side.

Wiping at the stray tears that had leaked from her eyes, Shia stood, staring at the door that now separated her and Dean. With a deep sigh, Shia pushed it open, Dean looking up at her as she just stood in the doorway. And the eyes that stared back at her broke Shia inside even more. They weren't Dean's anymore. Eyes that usually held such light and laughter, eyes that gave her strength, were now dark and weary, holding no strength of their own.

"You gonna come in or what?" Dean finally said into the silence. Slowly, Shia did just that, gently lowering herself onto the edge of the bed beside Dean.

"I'm sorry," Dean said so quietly, Shia almost didn't hear him.

"For what, Dean?" she asked.

"Everything that's happened," Dean said. "It's all gotta be my fault somehow."

"The only thing you have to apologize for is the way you're talking about all this," Shia told him.

"What, you mean being truthful?"

"No, I mean being a total dick. Not caring how it sounds to me and Sam."

"What do you mean, Sam? He didn't say a thing."

"And he won't. He wants to be brave in front of his big brother. He's not gonna say how much this scares him. How much this scares both of us. You need to think how this is for me and Sam."

"Oh, well I'm sorry if I didn't stop to consider how you guys felt in all this!" Dean said, the anger hitting his voice again.

"There you go again," Shia said, anger now taking over her fears and tears. "Not thinking before you open your mouth."

"I'm not really bothered about that right now Shia," Dean told her. "After all, I'm gonna be six feet under in a month."

"Stop," Shia screamed, jumping off the bed and turning her back on him. "Just stop it! Please Dean."

Her shoulders shaking slightly told Dean that once again, tears were streaking down Shia's cheeks. And just the amount of times she had been crying over him told Dean just how much she was hurting over this. For the second time, he regretted the words that had moments ago left his mouth.

"Shia, babe," Dean said, making her turn to him. He was sat up, his arms spread out to her. "Come here."

Needing more than anything the overwhelming comfort she always got from Dean, Shia crossed the room in one bound and buried herself in his arms, crying against his chest.

"I love you, Dean," Shia mumbled into his chest. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

Dean said nothing. He just wrapped his arms tighter round Shia, trying to comfort her. He knew how much this must have been getting to Sam and Shia, he had seen it on their faces. But what neither of them knew was just how tough it was for him. He didn't want to die, and the idea that he might was actually scaring him. But Dean didn't get scared. He had to stay strong for Sam and Shia. So what did he do when he was scared? He made jokes, he laughed it off. He didn't think how much this was hurting the others around him.

While his girl cried in his arms, Dean couldn't stop the single tear that slid down his face.

"Dean?" Shia said looking at Dean. He gave her a weak smile.

"Yeah?" he said.

"If you ever put the words 'Sam and Marriage and Me and Children' in the same sentence again, I'll be pissed." Dean laughed a little at his girlfriend's comment. And for the next few days, she didn't leave his side.

~April 27th, 2006 (approximately 5:45 p.m.)~ 

As the pair cuddled on the hospital bed, a nurse walked in the room, almost disappointed that Dean had a woman in bed with him.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but what is your relationship to the patient?" The nurse asked with a friendly smile, Shia looked at her and can see right through her bull.

"I'm his wife," Shia said, making her way out of the hospital bed. 

"Oh." The nurse mumbled. 

"We're, uh, newlyweds." Dean said lying smoothly, Shia turned to Dean and gave him a smile. Dean looked at her, sending her a wink. "Baby, you should go home and take care of Sammy."

"Right, Dean, I should get going. Don't want my boy worrying me," Shia said grabbing her purse. Shia quickly placed a kiss against Dean's lips before leaving. 

Shia got to the impala, Sam must have walked to the motel they were in. It wasn't far from the hospital. 

Shia sat in the Impala, thinking about the current shit hope they were in. She wanted to cry but she realized that crying wasn't going help anything right now. She sniffled before reaching into her purse, finding the keys to the Impala. Sam must have slipped them in her bag before leaving. 

Shia was about to start the car when someone knocked on the car door, she turned to get a look at the person, she saw a fully clothed Dean standing outside the car giving her a weak grin. Shia rolled down the window, and looked at her silly boyfriend.

"Dean, what the hell are you doing? You're supposed to be resting!" Shia said to her boyfriend. Dean walked slowly around the car to the passenger seat, opened the door and got in.

"Just drive, woman. I'm not dying in no hospital," Dean said closing his eyes to the sound of the impala engine running.

~April 27th, 2006 (approximately 6:12 p.m.)~

Back in the silence of the empty motel room, Sam sat on his bed as always surrounded by research. But today was a different kind of research. Today he was surrounded by books and leaflets on heart care. But, Sam being Sam and what they did, it wasn't doctors that were solving his problems. It was his father's journal.

Speaking of his father, Sam thought now was the time to try and get in touch with him, tell him what was wrong with his son. Even if he knew he'd never get an answer.

"This is John Winchester," his father's voicemail spoke to him, proving Sam right. "I can't be reached. If this is an emergency, call my son, Dean. 866-907-3235. He can help."

As the beep sounded in his ear, Sam for about the third time today tried to push back his tears as he started telling his dad just what this call was about.

"Hey, Dad. It's Sam," Sam began, his voice already staring to break as his pent up emotions got on top of him." Uh... you probably won't even get this, but, uh.... It's Dean. He's sick, and uh... the doctors say there's nothing they can do. Um... but, uh, they don't know the things we know, right? So, don't worry, cause, uh... I'm gonna do whatever it takes to get him better. Alright... just wanted you to know."

Hanging up, Sam tossed the phone onto the bed across from him. Now he was alone, he could fell the tears beginning to spring to the front of his eyes. Shia had been at the hospital since Sam had left, and he didn't figure she'd be coming back anytime soon. So now was the time when he could really let his emotions take over.

Since he had left the hospital, he had been trying his hardest not to think of Dean and just what would happen if they didn't fix this. Because the last thing that could happen right now is that he could lose his brother. He had just found him again, started to be a proper family with him and Shia, and now they knew for sure their father was alive, even if they had no idea where he was. Now was the worst possible time for all this to go wrong.

A knock on the door meant his emotions had to take a back seat again. The only person that could be was Shia, and he had to be strong for her sake right now. He knew this was just as tough on her, maybe worse. Sam knew just how much she loved Dean.

Opening the door, he did come face to face with Shia, only she wasn't alone. She had Dean leaning against her side, looking even worse, if that was possible.

"He wouldn't listen to me. And how can I say 'no' to that handsome face?" Shia said as if in answer.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Sam asked his brother.

"I checked myself out," Dean said, stepping past Sam and into the motel room.

"What, are you crazy?" Sam said to him.

"Well, I'm not gonna die in a hospital where the nurses aren't even hot," Dean said with a slight shrug.

"Why the hell would you care if the nurses were hot? I would be pissed at that comment but you're sick," Shia told him, making Dean laugh as Sam closed the door behind them.

"You know, this whole 'I-Laugh-In-The-Face-Of-Death' thing?" Sam told his brother. "It's crap. I can see right through it."

"Yeah, whatever, dude," Dean said as Shia helped her weakened boyfriend into a nearby chair. "Have you even slept? You look worse than me."

"I've been scouring the Internet for the last three days," Sam told him. "Calling every contact in Dad's journal."

"For what?" Dean asked.

"For a way to help you. One of Dad's friends, Joshua, he called me back. Told me about a guy in Nebraska. A specialist."

"You're not gonna let me die in peace, are you?"

"I'm not gonna let you die, period. We're going."

Dean didn't give Sam an answer. Instead, he turned to Shia, who was staring at him, smiling almost pleadingly. She wanted him to do this, didn't want to lose him.

And that was the only reason he gave in.

"Shia?" Dean asked as he watched his girlfriend pack their bags.

"What, handsome?"

"You know since I'm sick, I can't be on top like I want to,"

"Dean, what the hell are you talking about?" Shia asked turning to Dean, he gave her a look and motioned to the bed. "My God, Dean. Even when you're sick you're a pervert." Dean let out a weak laugh, how can this girl make him happy during this dark time in his life?

~April 28th, 2006 (approximately 4:03 p.m.)~

In Nebraska, Sam's idea of a specialist was a tent with the words 'The Church of Roy LeGrange Faith Healer. Witness The Miracle', written across the top and a group of very sick looking people making their way inside.

Pulling their car up outside, Sam and Shia were out first, stepping round the car to help Dean out of the car with a slight grunt of pain.

"I got it," Dean said, shrugging away from Sam and Shia's hands. "Man, you are a lying bastard. Thought you said we were going to see a doctor."

"I believe I said a specialist," Sam half-joked. "Look, Dean, this guy's supposed to be the real deal."

"I can't believe you brought me here to see some guy who heals people out of a tent," Dean said.

"Reverend LeGrange is a great man," an elderly woman with an eavesdropping ear said as she past them.

"Yeah, that's nice," Dean grated out. Still walking towards the tent, Sam, Dean and Shia past another member of the crowd, this guy with a very different opinion to the old woman.

"I have a right to protest," the man called out. "This man is a fraud. And he's bilking all these people out of their hard-earned money."

"Sir, this is a place of worship," a sheriff said as he and his partner walked the man away from the tent. "Let's go. Move it."

"I take it he's not part of the flock," Dean said.

"When people see something they can't explain, there's controversy," Sam said.

"I mean, come on, Sam, a faith healer?" Dean grated out to his brother.

"Maybe it's time to have a little faith, babe," Shia said, adding her opinion.

"You know what I've got faith in?" Dean told the pair. "Reality. Knowing what's really going on."

"How can you be a skeptic? With the things we see everyday?" Sam asked.

"Exactly," Dean said, as if Sam was making his point for him instead of against him. "We see them, we know they're real."

"But if you know evil's out there, how can you not believe good's out there, too?" Shia said.

"Because I've seen what evil does to good people," Dean told them.

"Maybe God works in mysterious ways," another crowd member said, turning to them. This one was a pretty young blonde woman.

"Maybe he does," Dean said. "I think you just turned me around on the subject."

"Uh huh," Shia said with a roll of her eyes as the girl smiled and Dean extended his hand to her.

"I'm Dean. This is Sam and Shia."

"Layla," the young girl said, taking Dean's offered hand. "So, if you're not a believer, then why are you here?"

"Well, apparently these two here believe enough for the lot of us," Dean told her.

"If this works, I'm so slapping Dean later," Shia whispered to Sam as Layla's mother walked up to her daughter.

"Come on, Layla. It's about to start," she said, guiding her daughter away with a wave goodbye.

"Well, I bet you she can work in some mysterious ways," Dean joked. Sam just smiled slightly, knowing his brother, while Shia glared and poked him gently in the arm, guiding him towards the tent as Mrs Rourke had with Layla.

Inside the tent there was already a large group of people sat waiting for the service to begin, while Dean's eyes immediately went to the security camera's in the corners.

"Yeah, peace, love, and trust all over," Dean said, pointing out the camera's to Sam and Shia. Dean carried on walking further into the tent, heading towards a seat in the back.

"Come on," Sam said, pushing Dean further towards the front.

"What are you doing? Let's sit here," Dean said.

"We're sitting up front," Sam told him.

"What? Why?"

"Come on."

"Oh, come on, guys." But despite is protests, Dean was still led towards the front, Sam and Shia trying to help him.

"Are you alright?" Shia asked.

"This is ridiculous. I'm good, get off me," Dean said, pushing away from the pair as they came to three seats close to the front behind Layla and her mother.

"Perfect," Sam said of the seats.

"Yeah, perfect," Dean said with next to no emotion.

"You take the aisle," Sam told him, the three sitting in their seats just as their host, Roy LeGrange, walked onto stage, dark glasses over his blind eyes.

"Each morning, my wife, Sue Ann, reads me the news. Never seems good, does it?" Roy called out to the very agreeable crowd. "Seems like there's always someone committing some immoral, unspeakable act."

As he spoke, Sam looked up at the table behind Roy, noticing the items on it. It was filled with crosses and religious items, one in particular catching his attention. It was a cross with a smaller one on top of it, the smaller one inside a circle.

"But, I say to you, God is watching. God rewards the good, and He punishes the corrupt," Roy continued to the crowd who were agreeing with and believing his every word. "Who does the healing here, friends? The Lord who guides me in choosing who to heal by helping me see into people's hearts."

"Yeah, or into their wallets," Dean muttered quietly just to Sam and Shia.

"You think so, young man?" Roy said to Dean, the rest of the church going silent.

"Sorry," Dean said, embarrassed.

"No, no. Don't be. Just watch what you say around a blind man, we've got real sharp ears," Roy said, making his followers laugh. "What's your name, son?"

"Dean," Dean answered after a slight hesitation.

"Dean. I want... I want you to come up here with me," Roy said, his wife Sue Ann getting onto the stage to welcome Dean up while the crowd cheered in excitement, Layla and her mother the only ones not joining in with the cheers but looking upset at the news.

"No, that's ok," Dean yelled over the noise.

"What the hell are you doing? Go up there," Shia said to him.

"You've come here to be healed, haven't you?" Roy said.

"Well, yeah, but...." Dean began, his voice beginning to get drowned out by the cheers of the crowd. "No, maybe you should just pick someone else."

"Oh, no, I didn't pick you, Dean," Roy said over the claps. "The Lord did."

"Get up there!" Sam said, pushing a reluctant and uncomfortable looking Dean up to the stage.

"You ready?" Roy asked him.

"Look, no disrespect, but I'm not exactly a believer," Dean said to Roy.

"You will be, son. You will be," Roy said before turning to the crowd. "Pray with me, friends."

The crowd lifted their hands into the air, following Roy's lead. Roy reached out his hand feeling for Dean's shoulder, Dean looking just as nervous as the anxious Sam and Shia in the crowd.

"Alright, now. Alright, now," Roy said, moving his hand to Dean's forehead as he worked his healing magic.

The crowd, which of course included Sam and Shia, watched as Dean began to look weak and dizzy, his eyes closes and his legs falling from under him as he fell to his knees. Roy kept his hand against Dean's forehead, almost guiding him down as he collapsed to the floor. The crowd cheered and clapped, seeing something Sam and Shia weren't as they became scared.

"Dean!" Shia called out, her and Sam racing to the stage. Shia knelt beside Dean, shaking him slightly until he woke with a heavy gasp.

"Say something," Shia said to him. But Dean remained silent, in shock over what had just happened. His blurry vision focusing slowly, Dean's eyes fell on someone new in the room. An old man, his face grey and dead and his hair white, was stood behind Roy dressed in a suit. His eyes landed on Dean before vanishing, leaving Dean even more shocked.

Back at the dreaded hospital for a second time, Dean now looked a little different. He was sat up on an examination table, looking as well as he always did, while Sam and Shia stood beside him.

"Babe, do you really feel okay?" Shia asked almost expectantly.

"I feel fine, Shia," Dean assured her as the nurse walked back into the room, Dean's papers in her hand.

"Well, according to all your tests, there's nothing wrong with your heart. No sign there ever was," the nurse said, getting two totally different reactions from the people in front of her. Sam and Shia seemed almost ecstatic, happy to have their brother and boyfriend back, while Dean simply looked curious, almost worried about the news.

"Not that a man your age should be having heart trouble," the nurse continued. "But still, it's strange it does happen."

"What do you mean, strange?" Dean asked.

"Well, just yesterday, a young guy like you, twenty-seven, athletic. Out of nowhere, heart attack," the nurse said, making Dean look concerned again.

"Thanks, Doc," he said.

"Oh, no problem," she said with a slight smile as she left.

"That's odd," Dean said to Sam and Shia once she was gone.

"Maybe it's a coincidence," Sam suggested. "People's hearts give out all the time, man"

"No, they don't," Dean argued back.

"Look, babe, do we really have to look this one in the mouth?" Shia said hopefully. "Why can't we just be thankful that the guy saved your life and move on?"

"Because I can't shake this feeling, that's why," Dean said.

"What feeling?" Shia asked, she didn't know why she all of the sudden became annoyed with Dean.

"When I was healed, I just... I felt wrong," Dean said. "I felt cold. And for a second, I saw someone. This, uh, this old man. And I'm telling you, it was a spirit."

"But if there was something there, Dean, I think I would've seen it, too," Sam said. "I mean, I've been seeing an awful lot of things lately."

"Well, excuse me, psychic wonder," Dean said, his voice only half joking. "But you're just gonna need a little faith on this one. Sam, I've been hunting long enough to trust a feeling like this."

At Dean's words, Sam and Shia exchanged a look. Dean was fine now, not gonna die, and they just wanted to get out of this place. The two of them were almost over the moon that Dean wasn't gonna die, absolutely ready to take all this on faith, where as Dean was just trying to rationalise everything. Almost as if he was looking for reasons to get out of this, to be a month away from death again.

"Yeah, alright," Sam said, him and Shia giving in to Dean's wishes. "So, what do you wanna do?"

"I want you to go check out the heart attack guy. I'm gonna visit the reverend," Dean told them.

"Alone?" Shia asked.

"Yeah, you go with Sam," Dean said grabbing his jacket.

"Whatever," Shia said as she walked past Dean.

"What did I do this time?" Dean asked his little brother. "Is she pissed at me or something?" Sam simply shrugged walking out the door.

Dean stopped the car at the gym that the guy with the heart attack worked out. Sam got out the car walking into the gym, but Shia remained sitting in her seat.

"Aren't you going to get out?" Dean asked.

"No, I'm coming with you," Shia said looking everywhere but in Dean's direction. Dean sighed deeply not wanting to start an argument with his girlfriend, he wanted to do anything but make her mad. He doesn't want her pissed at him for the rest of the week, I mean he likes to spoon at night but when she's pissed they keep their distance in the bed.

Going their separate ways for their separate jobs, Shia had not gone with Sam like Dean had originally suggested. Instead she was now sitting with him in Reverend Roy LeGrange's house.

"I feel great," Dean told the reverend. "Just trying to, you know, make sense of what happened."

"A miracle is what happened," Sue Ann said from beside her husband. "Well, miracles come so often around Roy."

"When did these miracles start?," Shia asked Roy.

"Woke up one morning, stone blind," Roy began to tell them. "Doctors figured out I had cancer. Told me I had maybe a month. So, uh, we prayed for a miracle. Now, I was weak, but I told Sue Ann, 'You just keep right on praying'. I went into a coma. Doctors said I wouldn't wake up, but I did. And the cancer was gone."

Ending his story, Roy removed his sunglasses to reveal his white, blind eyes.

"If it wasn't for these eyes, no one would believe I'd ever had it," Roy said.

"And all of the sudden you could heal people," Shia added.

"I discovered it afterward, yes," Roy said. "God's blessed me in many ways."

"And his flock just swelled overnight," Sue Ann said proudly. "And this is just the beginning."

"Can I ask you one last question?" Dean said.

"Of course you can," Roy answered in his cheerful tone.

"Why?" Dean asked. "Why me? Out of all the sick people, why save me?"

"Well, like I said before, the Lord guides me," Roy said. "I looked into your heart, and you just stood out from all the rest."

"What did you see in my heart?" Dean asked.

"A young man with an important purpose," Roy said. "A job to do. And it isn't finished."

Shia smiled at Roy's words, seeing just how true they actually were. Dean on the other hand, couldn't see. Roy's words simply surprised, even confused him further.

Doing his end of the job, Sam was at the local gym talking to a friend of Marshall Hall, the heart attack victim.

"I'm telling you, he seemed healthy," the man told him. "Swam every day, didn't smoke. So, a heart attack just kind of seemed, well, bizarre."

"And you said he was running, right before he collapsed?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, yeah, he was freaking out. He said that something was, uh, was after him."

"Did he say what?"

"Well, thin air is what. I mean, it wasn't anything."

Sam thought on his words for a moment, taking them in, and thinking about just what Dean had said to. The invisible man on the stage only he seemed able to see.

"Alright, thanks," Sam said, turning to leave before he noticed a clock on the wall above him, the hands still. "Hey, buddy? Your, uh, your clock's busted."

"Oh, yeah, we, uh, can't get it workin'," the man said. "Just froze at 4:17."

"Is that the same time Marshall died?" Sam guessed.

"How'd you know?" the guy asked. Sam didn't answer. He just stored this piece of information away with all the others, new ideas coming to his mind.

Back at Reverend LeGrange's house, Dean and Shia were leaving just as Layla and her mother were heading towards the house.

"Dean, Shia, hey," Layla greeted with a sweet smile.

"Hey," Dean replied.

"How you feeling?" Layla asked.

"I feel good. Cured, I guess," Dean answered. "What are you doing here?"

"You know, my mom, she wanted to talk to the reverend," Layla said as Sue Ann came outside.

"Layla?" she greeted.

"Yes, I'm here again," Layla said with another smile.

"Well, I'm sorry, but Roy is resting, and he won't be seeing anyone else right now," Sue Ann said.

"Sue Ann, please," Mrs Rourke almost begged. "This is our sixth time, he's got to see us."

"Roy is well aware of Layla's situation," Sue Ann told her. "And he very much wants to help just as soon as the Lord allows. Have faith, Mrs. Rourke."

With these final words, Sue Ann walked back inside the house. Alone, Mrs Rourke now turned her attention on Dean, visibly upset.

"Why are you still even here?" Mrs Rourke asked him, anger also in her voice. "You got what you wanted."

"Mom. Stop," Layla said.

"No, Layla, this is too much," Mrs Rourke said. "We've been to every single service. If Roy would stop choosing these strangers over you. Strangers who don't even believe. I just can't pray any harder."

"What's wrong, Layla?" Shia asked her.

"I have this thing...." Layla said slowly, her words trailing off.

"It's a brain tumor," Mrs Rourke continued for her. "It's inoperable. In six months, the doctors say..."

As her mothers words trailed off, Layla put her hand against her shoulder, comforting her mother.

"I'm sorry," Dean said softly.

"It's okay," Layla said.

"No. It isn't," Mrs Rourke said before turning to Dean. "Why do you deserve to live more than my daughter?"

Mrs Rourke walked away, her daughter following her with tears in her eyes. Dean watched after them for a moment, thinking the exact same thing Mrs Rourke had just put out in the open.

Still distracted thinking about it, Dean walked back towards the car, Shia behind him. While Shia pulled her door open, Dean paused slightly, staring at nothing.

"Okay, what's wrong with you?" Shia asked him.

"I'm fine," Dean said, clearly covering something.

"Yeah, right," Shia said. "I know you, babe. Something's up."

Dean paused, again looking away and at anything but his girlfriend.

"I'm just thinking... maybe Mrs Rourke was right," Dean said finally. "What is so important about me that I deserve to live over everyone else back there? Over Layla?"

"Dean, don't," Shia said softly.

"But I'm right," Dean said. "What makes me so important?"

"What makes you so important is exactly what Roy said about you," Shia told him.

"Come on, babe. You know that was just bull," Dean said.

"No, it wasn't," Shia said adamantly.

"How can you be so sure?" Dean asked her.

"Because he saw what I see everyday Dean," Shia told him. "What I see beneath what you show the world. Everything you do for these complete strangers, all the lives you've saved. Dean, you are the most amazing guy I have ever met."

Walking closer to Dean, Shia gently took hold of his hands. And as she looked up at him, Dean could see her eyes glistening slightly.

"I trust in your instincts," Shia continued. "I really do. But.... Dean, I'm not gonna be upset that the man I love is still alive. I'm just not. You can't expect me to."

As she spoke, Dean looked deep into her eyes, seeing her like he always did. Shia truly meant every word she said. She believed in him, in what she saw inside him. And Dean loved the way she saw him, the way she had faith in him when he wasn't even sure he had faith in himself. That faith she had in him was almost overwhelming and he couldn't see where she had got it from, why she had. But he was glad she had it.

Pulling her closer to him, Dean wrapped her in a tight embrace, Shia arms almost instinctively wrapping themselves round him as she hugged him back.

"I don't," Dean whispered softly to her.

~••~

Back at the motel room, Sam was sat in front of his laptop when Dean and Shia walked back in.

"What'd you find out?" Dean asked.

"I'm sorry," Sam said, a sad look on his face.

"Sorry about what?" Dean asked.

"Marshall Hall died at 4:17," Sam told them.

"The exact time I was healed," Dean added.

"Yeah. So, I put together a list of everyone Roy's healed, six people over the past year, and I cross-checked them with the local obits," Sam said, handing Dean and Shia a pile of research. "Every time someone was healed, someone else died. And each time, the victim died of the same symptom LeGrange was healing at the time."

"Someone's healed of cancer, someone else dies of cancer? That is messed up," Shia said.

"Somehow," Sam said. "LeGrange, he's trading a life for another."

"Wait, wait, wait. So, Marshall Hall died to save me?" Dean said.

"Dean, the guy probably would've died anyway," Sam said. "And someone else would've been healed."

"You never should've brought me here," Dean told them.

"Honey, we were just trying to save your life," Shia said.

"But some guy is dead now because of me," Dean argued.

"We didn't know," Shia argued back.

"The thing I don't understand is how is Roy doing it?" Sam said. "How's he trading a life for a life?"

"Oh, he's not doing it," Dean said. "Something else is doing it for him."

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

"The old man I saw on stage," Dean said. "I didn't wanna believe it, but deep down I knew it."

"You knew what?" Shia asked. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"There's only one thing that can give and take life like that," Dean said, to which Sam and Shia simply looked confused. "We're dealing with a reaper."

"You really think it's the Grim Reaper?" Shia said after letting the information sink in. "Like, angel of death, collect your soul, the whole deal?"

"No, no, no. Not the Reaper, a reaper," Dean said. "There's reaper lore in pretty much every culture on Earth. Go by a hundred different names. It's possible that there's more than one of 'em."

"But you said you saw a dude in a suit," Sam said.

"Well, what, do you think he should've been workin' the whole black robe thing? You said it yourself that the clock stopped, right?" Dean said, holding up on of the information sheet he had. "Reapers stop time. And you can only see 'em when they're comin' at you, which is why I could see it and you couldn't."

"Maybe," Sam said.

"There's nothing else it could be," Dean said. "The question is how's Roy controllin' the damn thing?"

"That cross," Sam said, more to himself than the others.

"What?" Dean asked.

"There was this cross. I noticed it in the church tent, I knew I had seen it before," Sam clarified while shuffling through the papers in front of him. Picking one from the pile, Sam handed it to Dean and Shia. On it was a drawing of a skeleton, a drown on it's head and the cross Sam had seen in the corner.

"A tarot?" Dean questioned.

"It makes sense," Sam said. "I mean, tarot dates back to the early Christian era, right? When some priests were still using magic? And a few of them veered into the dark stuff. Necromancy, and how to push death away, how to cause it."

"So, Roy is using black magic to bind the reaper?" Shia put before the group.

"If he is, he's riding the whirlwind," Sam said. "It's like putting a dog leash on a Great White."

"Ok, then we stop Roy," Dean said after a moment of thought.

"How?" Sam asked.

"You know how," Dean said simply.

"Wait, what the hell are you talking about, Dean?" Shia said, clocking on. "We can't kill Roy."

"The guy's playing God, he's deciding who lives and who dies," Dean argued back. "That's a monster in my book."

"No, we're not gonna kill a human being, Dean," Sam said, backing Shia's side. "We do that, we're no better than he is."

"Ok, so we can't kill Roy, we can't kill death. Any bright ideas, college boy?" Dean said sarcastically.

"Ok, uh, if Roy is using some kind of black spell on the reaper, we've gotta figure out what it is," Sam said, coming up with a 'bright idea'. "And how to break it."

~April 29th, 2006 (approximately 4:53 p.m.)~

Trying to figure out how this was happening, Sam, Dean and Shia were back at Roy LeGrange's church the next day.

"If Roy is using a spell, there might be a spell book," Sam said as the group got out of the car.

"See if you guys can find it," Dean said, checking his watch. "Hurry up, too, the service starts in fifteen minutes. I'll try to stall Roy."

"Alright," Sam said, their path taking them past the protester they had seen there the other day.

"Roy LeGrange is a fraud," he continued to shout to anyone in the crowd that would listen. "He's no healer."

"Amen, brother," Dean said to the guy, Dean, Sam and Shia the only people paying much attention to this man.

"Preach it, hun," Shia added.

"Thank you," he said, watching them walk away, Sam and Shia in one direction while Dean headed towards the tent. As they were walking Sam smiled widely at his best friend.

"What the hell are smiling about, pretty boy?" Shia said to Sam.

"I don't know but when you said 'Preach it, hun' I thought it was funny," Sam said laughing a little.

"You guys have your way of agreeing with a good message, I have mine."

Outside the LeGrange house, Sue Ann was with her husband, her and another man helping him down the porch steps. Once they were gone, Sam and Shia pulled out of their hiding place, sneaking round the front of the house and through a window.

Inside, the pair found themselves in the library, both searching through the books on the shelves.

"So what exactly are we looking for?" Shia asked Sam for clarification.

"I'm not sure," Sam said honestly. "A spell book clearly, but it could be a number of things."

"Right," Shia said, going back to the search.

Looking over the shelves, Sam noticed a thin layer of dust along the front of the books covering the wood. All but in one place where the wood could been seen through a small gap in the dust. This book had been pulled out recently.

Taking it from the shelf, Sam read the front cover. Encyclopaedia of Christian History. He began flipping through the pages as Shia moved to stand beside him. Looking over his shoulder, Shia noticed something else on the shelf that he had missed. In the space where the encyclopaedia had been was another, smaller book, tucked away and hidden. Pulling it out, Shia flipped through the pages of this book with Sam watching her. She stopped when she came to a picture of a reaper.

"I think it's safe to say this is what we were looking for," Shia said, flipping through the pagers again until Sam suddenly stopped her.

"Wait," he said, pointing to the picture on this page. "That's the cross."

Tucked away in the pages of this book were a number of newspaper clippings. Taking them out, Sam flipped through the subjects and headlines of some. The first was an article about an openly gay teacher who was sending a strong message of tolerance and acceptance to the nation's schools. The next one started with the headline: 'Local Abortion Rights Advocate Calls For End To Violence Against Woman'. The third clipping the two recognised, taking notice of. It was an article about Roy's very own protester, David Wright.

"Damn it, and I think we found his next victim," Shia said, her and Sam leaving the house with the small book.

Waiting and watching inside the tent, Dean attention was drawn to the cell phone in his pocket as it rang.

"What do you got?" Dean asked as he answered it.

"Roy's choosing victims he sees as immoral," Shia's voice spoke on the other end. "And we think we know who's next on his list. Remember that protestor?"

"The guy in the parking lot?" Dean said.

"Yeah. Yeah, we'll find him," Shia said. "But you can't let Roy heal anyone, alright?"

Both hung up, Dean going back to his waiting game while Sam and Shia searched the car park for David.

The waiting game paid off, somewhat, as Roy began his service.

"Layla. Layla Rourke," Roy called into the audience. "Come up here, child."

As the crowd clapped and cheered for Layla, she stood, hugging her mother tight.

"Baby, I love you," Mrs Rourke whispered into her daughter's ear.

"Oh, man," Dean groaned out. Why did it have to be her?

As Layla removed herself from her mother's arms, making her way up to the stage, Dean stood in her way.

"Layla, listen to me, you can't go up there," he told her.

"Why not?" Layla asked. "We've waited for months."

"You can't let Roy heal you," Dean told her.

"I don't understand," Lalyla said softly. "I mean, Roy healed you, didn't he? Why wouldn't I at least let him try?"

"Because if you do, something bad is gonna happen," Dean told her the half truth. "I can't explain, I just need you to believe me."

"Layla," Sue ann called to her, holding out her hand for Layla to join her on the stage.

"Please," Dean almost begged her as Lalyla looked back into her mother's eyes, the woman urging her to go forward.

"I'm sorry," Layla told Dean, brushing past him.

"Layla. Layla!" Dean called after her. but she didn't listen. She just moved to the stage, taking Sue Ann's hand and letting herself be led forward.

Out in the parking lot, Sam and Shia were still looking for David with no luck.

"Help!" they suddenly heard his voice call out. Following the voice and the direction they believed it to be in, Sam and Shia continued to search for David who, unknown to them, had already been marked by the reaper.

In the church, Roy had begun his service, raising his hands in the air.

"Pray with me, friends," he said to the crowd before turning to Layla. "I hope you're ready."

"I am," Layla said as the crowd raised their arms along with Roy. All but Dean, who stood still in the back, unsure of what he was supposed to do.

In the parking lot, David was still calling out for help as the reaper was cornering him.

"Help! Help me, please!" he called out as Sam and Shia finally found him.

"Where is it?" Shia asked.

"It's right there!" David said, pointing to what he saw as the reaper, but Sam and Shia only saw a fresh air.

"Alright, come on!" Sam said, dragging David away with him and Shia.

In the church, Roy was lowering his hand as always, ready to lay his healing touch on the waiting Layla.

"Fire! Hey, tent's on fire!" Dean's voice cut through the silence of the crowd, the words making everyone jump to their feet and scrambling to the exit. "Fire! Everybody, get out of here!"

"No! No, please! Please, don't stop!" Mrs Rourke called through the chaos. "Please! Reverend, please! Please! Please, don't stop! Please!"

Dean heard her words and wished to God he hadn't had to do that. If Roy had chosen anyone else today, he would have been fine. But not Layla. He had now condemned her to death.

Pushing his emotions aside as always, Dean pulled his phone from his pocket, dialing through to Shia as Roy called over the crowd.

"Friends, if you'd all just leave the tent in an orderly fashion, then we can figure out what's going on out there."

"I did it," Dean told Shia down the phone. "I stopped Roy."

"David, I think it's ok," Shia said to him. Breathing a sigh of relief, David nodded and turned his face away. But his relief was short lived as the reaper was now stood in front of him.

"No!" David called, scrambling back.

"Dean, it didn't work!" Shia told him. "The reaper's still coming!"

Sam and Shia watched David, unable to do anything as they couldn't see the reaper that approached him. All they saw was David falls to his knees, his face been quickly drained of it's color as the reaper placed his hand against his cheek.

"I'm telling you!" Shia called desperately down the phone. "I'm telling you, it must not have worked. Roy must not be controlling this thing!"

"Well, then who the hell is?" Dean said, his eyes scanning the church and finally falling on the culprit. Sue Ann stood in the corner with her back to him and muttering.

"Sue Ann," Dean breathed down the phone before hanging up, moving quickly to Sue Ann and spinning her to face him. Round her neck and clasped in her hand was necklace holding the cross from Sam had said was a large part of this.

Her muttering and casting interrupted, the Reaper backed away from David in the car park, his face quickly gaining it's colour back and gasping for air as his hand lost contact with his skin.

Inside the tent, Sue Ann quickly tucked the cross beneath her shirt.

"Help!" she called out. "Help me! Help!"

Hearing her cries, two sheriffs were immediately on the scene, dragging Dean away from Sue Ann and out of the tent with Sue Ann trailing behind them.

"I just don't understand. After everything we've done for you, after Roy healed you. We're very, very disappointed, Dean," Sue Ann said before turning to the sheriffs. "You can let him go, I'm not gonna press charges. The Lord will deal with him as he sees fit."

With that said, Sue Ann walked away, leaving Dean with the law.

"We catch you around here again, son, we'll put the fear of God in you, understand?" one of them said to Dean.

"Yes, sir. Fear of God. Got it," Dean said as the officers roughly let him go, walking away to reveal Layla now stood in front of him.

"Layla," Dean said almost desperately.

"Why would you do that, Dean?" she said to him. "When it could've been my only chance."

"He's not a healer," Dean said.

"He healed you," Layla countered.

"I know it doesn't seem fair. And I wish I could explain, but Roy is not the answer," Dean said softly. "I'm sorry."

"Goodbye, Dean," she replied simply. "I wish you luck. I really do."

"Same to you," Dean called after her retreating back. "You deserve it a lot more than me."

Walking back to the car to find Sam and Shia, Dean passed by Roy, Sue Ann and Mrs Rourke, overhearing their conversation.

"Private session tonight. No interruptions," Roy said. "I give you my word. I'll heal your daughter."

"Thank you, Reverend. God bless you," Mrs Rourke praised as Dean watched them carefully.

Back at their motel room, the group was going over the separate information they had found.

"So Roy really believes?" Sam questioned to Dean.

"I don't think he has any idea what his wife's doing," Dean answered.

"Well, we found this hidden in their library," Shia said, showing Dean the small book she still had. "It's ancient. Written by a priest who went dark side. There's a binding spell in here for trapping a reaper."

"Must be a hell of a spell," Dean said, flipping through the pages.

"Yeah," Shia said. "You've got to build a black altar, with seriously dark stuff. Bones, human blood. To cross the line like that, that preacher's wife. Black magic, murder. Evil."

"Desperate," Dean corrected. "Her husband was dying, she'd have done anything to save him. She was using the binding spell to keep the reaper away from Roy."

"Cheating death. Literally," Sam said.

"Yeah, but Roy's alive, so why's she still using the spell?" Dean said.

"Right," Sam agreed. "To force the reaper to kill people she thinks are immoral."

"May God save us from half the people who think they're doing God's work," Dean recited.

"We've gotta break that binding spell, Dean," Sam said. flipping through the pages, Dean stopped on one showing the cross Sue Ann had been wearing round her neck.

"You know, Sue Ann had a Coptic cross like this," Dean pointed out. "And when she dropped it, the reaper backed off."

"So, you think we've gotta find the cross or destroy the altar?" Shia asked.

"Maybe both," Dean answered. "Whatever we do, we better do it soon. Roy's healing Layla tonight."

~April 29th, 2006 (approximately 8:34 p.m.)~

Later that night, Sam, Dean and Shia pulled up outside the private session in Roy's church.

"That's Layla's car," Sam said, pointing to a car close by them. "She's already here."

"Yeah," Dean said, no emotion in his voice.

"Dean," Shia questioned.

"You know, if Roy would have picked Layla instead of me, she'd be healed right now," Dean said, finally getting out what he felt.

"Dean, please....don't," Shia said gently.

"And if she's not healed tonight, she's gonna die in a couple months," Dean continued.

"What's happening to her is horrible. But, what are you gonna do? Let somebody else die to save her? You said it yourself, Dean. You can't play God," Shia said, getting nothing from Dean. "I've said this once today, and I'm gonna say it again till you get it. I am not gonna be upset that you are alive Dean. And neither should you."

The response this time was a quick glance in the mirror, back at Shia, before Dean silently got out of the car and to the tent, Sam and Shia following.

"Gather round. Please, everyone, gather round. Come in closer. Come on up," Roy said as Layla walked up on to the stage.

"Where's Sue Ann?" Dean asked.

"House," Sam suggested.

Following Sam's intuition, he, Dean and Shia went to the house to find it dark and seemingly empty.

"Go find Sue Ann. I'll catch up," Dean said, looking round.

"What are you...?" Sam began, but didn't get an answer as Dean left their side to walk round the front of the house where the sheriffs from earlier today were.

"Hey," he called to them. "You gonna put that fear of God in me?"

Taking off round the side of the house, Dean was quickly persuade by the cops, leaving the way open for Sam and Shia to find a way into the house. And the easiest and only way inside they found was the cellar.

At the parking lot outside the tent, the sheriffs were still looking round for Dean, who was now eluding them.

"You see him?" one policeman asked.

"No," the other answered. Suddenly, the sound of a barking dog caught their attention, both turning to see a large dog barking up out of the window of a trailer.

"Psycho mutt," the first sheriff said, the pair walking away from the dog. If they had stopped to look, they would have seen that what the dog was barking at was actually Dean, who was hiding on top of the trailer.

In the cellar of the LeGrange house, Sam and Shia had the luck to come across exactly what they were looking for. Sue Ann's altar complete with crosses, blood bones, candles... and a picture of Dean from the security camera with a blood X across his face. The next victim?

"I gave him life, and I can take it away," Sue Ann's voice said from behind them. Sam and Shia turned to see her stood in the doorway above them. Sam didn't say a word, he just overturned the altar, tipping the contents and destroying it.

Sue Ann backed up, locking the cellar door with them inside and sliding a metal bar in the handles.

"Can't you see?" Sue Ann continued through the door. "The Lord chose me to reward the just and punish the wicked. And your brother is wicked. And he deserves to die just as Layla deserves to live. It's God's will."

Sam and Shia simply chose to ignore her, trying the window as their exit.

"Goodbye," Sue Ann called as Sam used another bar from the floor to pry the window open. Frustrated, Shia motioned for Sam to stand back. Allowing her eyes to glow, her blue, white color, Shia manipulated the wind to blow as hard as it could to get to pry the window open. And she was successful. 

At the church, Roy stood over Layla, Mrs Rourke at his side, and began to try to heal her.

"Mrs. Rourke, pray with me. Pray with me, friends," Roy said.

Out in the parking lot, the spell's magic began it's work. While Sue Ann stood outside the tent, looking in and muttering her spell, Dean watched with something between slight fear and acceptance as the reaper walked towards him, placing his hand on the side of Dean's face, the colour draining from his features as it had with David.

With each move that Roy and Layla made inside the tent, Dean and the reaper copied. As Roy guided Layla gently to her knees, Dean fell almost aggressively to his.

As Sue Ann stood muttering behind the tent, she didn't notice Sam and Shia walking up behind her, Shia turning her forcefully ripping the cross from her neck, shattering it on the floor.

Once the cross shattered, the spell was broken, the reaper taking his hand from Dean's face, allowing the colour to return to his features and the air to rush back into his lung with a large gasp. At the same time, inside the tent, Roy took his hand from Layla, his healing powers gone.

"I don't understand," Roy said.

"I don't feel different. Reverend?" Layla muttered softly.

"Sue Ann?" Roy called for his wife, getting no response from anything.

Outside the tent, his wife whimpered over her broken cross.

"My God! What have you done?!" Sue Ann cried.

"Sorry, honey, but he's not your God," Shia replied almost coldly. This woman did, after all, just try to kill her boyfriend after giving him back to her.

Sue Ann turned abruptly to come face to face with the grinning face of the reaper she had only moment ago been in control of.

She tried to back away, scramble towards Sam and Shia who simply stood watching, but the reaper was faster. He moved to her, placing his hand on her cheek and guiding her to the ground as the color drained from her face and the air left her lungs. Still, Sam and Shia watched, either unable of unwilling to do anything as she collapsed to the floor, twitching in pain before her hold on life gave in.

Leaving her lying where she was and getting out of there fast as they could, Sam and Shia found Dean already stood by the car, pretty much leaning against it after almost dying for a second time.

"Baby, are you okay?" Shia asked him.

"A little bit weak," Dean answered.

"Yeah. Alright, come on, we should get going," Sam, the three getting in the car and leaving.

~April 30, 2006 (approximately 10:43 a.m.)~ 

The next morning they were all ready to leave, Sam was already packed and went to the main office to get them checked out. Shia and Dean was in the motel room getting packed, Dean looked over at Shia watching her as she packed. Shia felt him staring at him.

"What the hell are you looking at?" Shia said playfully. Dean smiled at her, she gave him a weak smile back.

"What's wrong?" Dean asked his girlfriend, he noticed that she avoided eye contact.

"Nothing, I'm fine," Shia said zipping her bag and walking over towards the door, Dean grabbed her arm causing her to stop; he grabbed her chin forcing her to look at him, he could see the tear stains on her beautiful face and one falling from her eyes. Dean leaned down and kissed the tear away.

"Baby, please, tell me what's wrong," Dean said looking in Shia's eyes, his green eyes meeting her dark brown eyes.

"I almost lost you back there, again. It hurts, that's all." Shia said barely above a whisper to Dean, he leaned in and gave his girlfriend a sweet kiss.

"You won't lose me anytime soon, Shia," Dean said after pulling away and giving her a hug, Shia smiled and lift her hand up to Dean's head and smacking him. "What the hell was that for?" Dean said rubbing his head.

"For flirting with Layla, for complaining about the nurses not being hot, and for that chick flick moment we just had," Shia said smiling widely at her boyfriend, she randomly used her powers and made her bag appear in her hands. Shia gave Dean a quick peck on the lips before walking out the door.

"One hell of a woman," Dean said watching his girlfriend walk out the door.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Leave a comment! :)
> 
> Also, if some of you are wondering...the lovely actress who portrays Shia is the amazing Tika Sumpter! :)


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